Vindications and some upsets marked the opening of the Egyptian domestic league last week, Ahmed Morsy reports After playing the first week of the Egyptian domestic league, the national competition is frozen until 19 August due to Guinea's friendly game against Egypt, held yesterday in Cairo. The second week of the league will include six matches and two games the following day. Titleholder Ahli play against Police Union, Haras Al-Hedoud meet Al-Gaish, while Ittihad host Arab Contractors and Spinning Mehalla also host Misri. Meanwhile, newly promoted Gouna and Mansoura clash against each other as well as Military Production facing Petroleum Assiout. As for the other two games, last year runner-ups Ismaili host Enppi while Zamalek meet Petrojet on Thursday 20 August. Regarding first week matches, Zamalek fans breathed a sigh of relief after seeing their side produce a ruthless attacking display against Enppi, winning 3-1 last Friday. Heavyweight signings gave success-starved supporters hope that their team can finally dethrone archrivals Ahli and win the prestigious premier league title. The last time Zamalek held the title was in 2004. Shikabala almost opened the scoring after 18 minutes when he was released by a deft through-pass from Zaki. He went one-on-one with Enppi keeper Al-Mahdi Soliman, but his delicate chip hit the side netting. A trademark header by central defender Mahmoud Fathallah gave the Cairo giants a first-half lead when he caught two defenders ball-watching to head home Shikabala's free kick. Zamalek's regular keeper Abdul-Wahed El-Sayed was replaced during the interval, apparently because of injury, to make way for stand-in Mohamed Abdul-Monsef. Shikabala, 23, was unlucky to see a delightful curling shot strike the post on the hour. He made up for the wasted opportunity when another curling effort, this time from a free-kick, sailed over a disorganised defensive wall and went into the top corner on 68 minutes to double the lead. However, Egyptian international Ahmed El-Muhammadi gave Enppi a glimmer of hope three minutes from time when his fierce long-range drive eluded the despairing hands of Abdul-Monsef. Alas, substitute Ahmed El-Merghani killed off Enppi's hopes when he notched one home deep into stoppage time to cap an impressive attacking display from Zamalek. As Enppi's keeper El-Mahdi Soliman rushed out of his box to block a certain goal from Zamalek's combative striker Sayed Mosaad, who came on as a second-half substitute, El-Merghani reacted quickly to loop the ball into the net from 25 yards. Swiss coach Michel Decastel fielded three close-of- season arrivals in Zamalek's starting line-up: midfielder Hassan Mostafa, left-back Mohamed Abdul-Shafi and striker Ahmed Gaafar. Mido, who joined from Middlesbrough on a season-long loan, was left out of the game as he is yet to reach full fitness. Star striker Amr Zaki, who spent last season on loan at Wigan Athletic, partnered Gaafar upfront. Zamalek coach Michel Decastel believes his side has a lot more to offer. "The best is yet to come," Swiss tactician Decastel told the post-match press conference. "Some players arrived late in the pre-season training camp and some were injured, so I expect things to only get better in the coming days." He added: "We were worried because Enppi played two competitive games in the CAF Confederations Cup before the league's start, but thankfully we were able to dominate the game and win." Zamalek Chairman Mamdouh Abbas underlined that Zamalek's new signings have quickly proved their worth. "The new players played very well. They showed that they were good enough to join Zamalek," Abbas told the club's official website. "I'm sure they will be able to live up to expectations and will be valuable additions to the Zamalek squad." Meanwhile, titleholders Ahli kicked off their premier league campaign with an easy 2-0 home win over Spinning Mehalla on Thursday. Ahmed Hassan broke the deadlock six minutes before the interval with a fierce long-range drive to give the red side the lead, while Liberian striker Doe, who joined Ahli on a free transfer in the close-of-season, wrapped up the win seven minutes past the hour to notch his maiden goal. The 23-year-old broke Mehalla's offside trap and latched onto a long ball inside the area, cut past his marker and sent a left-footed shot into the bottom corner of the net. After the win, Ahli assistant coach Mohamed Youssef said that Ahli proved it could perfectly employ the 4-4-2 formation. That formation was called into question by pundits and fans alike following Ahli's poor results in pre-season friendlies. "We will continue to play with a 4-4-2 formation. We've successfully implemented it today," Youssef told reporters following Ahli's victory over Mehalla. "The players are getting used to this new strategy, so we should not change it," he added. "Doe showed that he is a very good player. I also want to thank keeper Ahmed Abdul-Menem for producing a solid display today," Youssef said. Ahli's usual third-choice goalie, Abdul-Menem, denied Mehalla two certain goals in the second half. He could overtake Amir Abdul-Hamid as the team's preferred choice between the posts after the latter committed numerous errors during pre- season friendlies. In other matches, Ismaili staged a second-half comeback to draw 2-2 with league newcomers Mansoura in the opening game of the season on Thursday. Ismaili, who played with an unfamiliar 4-4-2 formation, piled on pressure in the dying minutes but couldn't give new Serbian coach Nebojsa Vuckovic a winning start. Egypt keeper Essam El-Hadari and left-back Ahmed Abou- Mosallam, who both joined Ismaili in the close-of-season, made their debuts. Tunisian striker Mohamed Selliti also played his first match for Ismaili after coming on as a second- half substitute. Elsewhere, El-Sayed Hamdi scored twice as Petrojet came from behind to beat Ittihad 3-1 at home. Meanwhile, Egyptian Cup winners Haras Al-Hedoud failed to get their Egyptian league campaign off to a winning start after being held to a 1- 1 home draw by newcomers Police Union. The Arab Contractors could only manage a 1-1 draw against Al-Gaish. But newly promoted side Military Production stunned Misri with a 2-0 victory. As a result, Misri chairman Ali Faragallah resigned from his post immediately after the final whistle. Faragallah claimed that the players conspired against him. "It is almost impossible to lose against a newly-promoted side that way. Misri players deliberately lost tonight," he said.
