Ahli edged Zamalek in a Cairo derby full of skills and spills. Ahmed Morsy covered the action Defending champions Ahli beat arch-rivals Zamalek 1-0 in the giant Cairo clash on Monday to take the lead in the standings after the fifth week of the Egyptian league. The win gave Ahli 11 points, one point ahead of second-placed Ismaili. Zamalek dropped to fifth place with nine points after their second loss of the season. Al-Geish, who are playing in the Arab Champions League, have 10 points from four games. Eight minutes before the interval in the fall classic, classy Ahli midfielder Mohamed Abu Treika broke the deadlock after picking up a loose ball and deeking goalkeeper Mohamed Abdel-Munsif before scoring. Pressure on Zamalek forced their defence into a howler which Hossam Ashour made good use of when he released Abu Treika with a deft pass that beat the offside trap. Clear on goal, Abu Treika wrong- footed Abdel-Munsif before slotting into the empty net to give Ahli the lead they would never relinquish. Seven minutes after restart, Ahli were given the chance to double the score when Angolan striker Flavio Amado latched onto Gilberto's through pass and manoeuvred past Abdel-Munsif, who had no choice other than to bring Flavio down. However, spot-kick specialist Shadi Mohamed's well-placed but all too familiar shot was superbly blocked by Abdul- Monsef in full flight. In the 68th minute, Zamalek were close to grabbing the equaliser when the Tunisian defender Wessam Al-Abdi connected with Shikabala's corner at the far post before heading past the advancing goalie Essam El-Hadari but Ahli skipper Shadi atoned for missing the penalty and cleared off the line. "The stability and steadiness of our defence after missing the penalty was the turning point of the match and the main reason behind gaining the three points," said Ahli coach Manuel Jose in a press conference after the match. "Losing a penalty usually has a good affect on the other team even if they were not leading. "I was afraid that the players would lose confidence after the penalty but on the contrary, they were stable and controlled the game. "The win went to the better side," Jose said. "Nevertheless, Zamalek's players were good and performed well." Zamalek dominated possession the rest of the way but failed to carve out clear-cut chances. The win for Ahli, the defending African champions, comes before facing Libya's Ittihad in the first-leg of the CAF Champions League semi-final on Saturday in Libya. Former Zamalek star Moataz Eno was surprisingly left out of Ahli's 18-man squad as the midfielder was expected to feature against his ex-club, given the loss of Mohamed Shawki who joined Premiership side Middlesbrough. However, Ahli coach Manuel Jose preferred to field the midfield trio of Anis Boujelbene, Hassan Mustafa and Hossam Ashour. "Although Karim Zekri, Mahmoud Fathallah and Al-Abdi were homogeneous in the last matches, they were heterogeneous in the game and made a lot of naive mistakes which eased the task of Ahli," said Zamalek's Dutch coach Ruud Krol. "Having more than one player facing Ahli for the first time was crucial in losing the three points," Krol added. It was the 100th league derby between the two teams, nine of which have come in Ramadan. Ahli have won more than double Zamalek's victories: 53 wins for Ahli, 25 for Zamalek and the rest draws. Abu Treika's strike makes him the all-time leader of goals scored in the derby, a record seven goals that he shares with two names of the past, Ahli's Toutou and Zamalek's Alaa El-Hamouli. Hossam Hassan scored five against Zamalek when playing for Ahli. When he switched to Zamalek, he scored four against his former teammates. Also on Monday, Ismaili were held to a 1-1 home draw by newly-promoted Aluminium. Ismaili, one of the favourites to win the league crown this year, are now in second place with 10 points.
