CAIRO - Egypt's soccer wizard Mohamed Abou Treika showed his scoring acumen yet again, giving his team Ahly a crucial 2-1 victory over Harras Al-Hodoud on Tuesday night in Cairo in the local Premier League. A first-half strike from Pape Latyr N'Diaye gave the visitors a one-nil lead, but the in-form Abou Treika made it four goals in three games with a second-half brace. The Egyptian ace is now only one goal away from his 100th league goal in two spells with Tersana and Ahly. With this win, Ahly move to fifth with 23 points, levelling with Ismaili, Police Union and Enppi, while Al-Hodoud remain 10th with 17 points. Ahly Manager Abdel-Aziz Abdel-Shafei ‘Zizo' gave 17-year-old Rami Hesham ‘Rabiea' a surprise start, only one day after he signed his first professional contract. Ahly started the better side and controlled possession in the first 20 minutes, but could only come close to Ali Farag's goal with an Abou Treika freekick that was parried by the Hodoud keeper. In the second half, Al-Hodoud dictated the play, as the home side looked nervous despite their crowd's incessant support. The goal came in the 34th minute when N'Diaye capitalised on a poor piece of goalkeeping from Mahmoud Abul Saoud. Ahly's keeper failed to punch Ahmed Eid's innocuous freekick away as N'Diaye notched the loose ball into an empty net. A few minutes later, the visitors almost doubled their lead through Ahmed Mekki, who was denied from seven yards by a brilliant save from Abul Saoud, while Hodoud boss Tareq el-Ashri watched from the stands. At the stroke of half-time came Ahly's best chance of the half, when Abou Treika's volley was superbly saved by Farag. Zizo introduced Mohamed Fadl at half time at the expense of the off-form Sherif Abdel-Fadil, moving Ahmed Fathi to the right. The Reds needed one minute after the break to level things when Abou Treika beat Farag in the air and had Fadl to thank for hassling two defenders as the ball went slowly into the net. Ten minutes later, the quiet Mohamed Nagui ‘Gedo' went one on one with Farag, only to miss the target inexplicably. The game's tempo was on the up as Ahmed Saeed's header hit the left post, much to the relief of Ahly, who looked far better than in the first half. The champions came close to doubling the lead when Sayyed Moawad sent an inch-perfect cross into the six-yard box, but Gedo and Fadl bizarrely outmuscled each other to waste the chance. In the 78th minute, Fadl won a clever penalty when he went down theatrically after the slightest of touches from Farag. Abou Treika stepped up and almost blasted his penalty into Farag's hands, but was relieved to see his powerful effort go home for the priceless winner. Hodoud took control of the match in search of an equaliser and substitute Mohamed Halim was through on goal, but was thwarted by Abul Saoud after a poor first touch let him down. The league title holders held on for the victory to hand manager Zizo his first three points. ‘Zizo' believes that the performance of ‘Rabiea' was one of the major gains in the victory over Al-Hodoud, who made an impressive debut in midfield for the league holders. Ahly's hard-fought victory, their first in four successive matches. “The players were determined to regain the lost confidence and win,” Zizo, said after the game. “I think the star of the match was Rami.” El-Ashri admitted that his side shouldn't have underestimated the six-time African champions. In a statement on its website, EFA has denied ignoring any accusations of favouritism levied against the referees, although it demands that they be respected by all parties. Hassan Saqr, head of the Egyptian National Sports Council, agrees. "It is totally unacceptable to attack the referees. The referee is like a judge; he should not be criticised like this. Such severe criticism angers the fans," Saqr stressed. “Most Egyptian teams have filed complaints against the referees," Hossam added. "Zamalek allege that the referees are biased while Ahly assumes that there is a conspiracy against them ��" likewise the other teams. This proves that any mistakes are inadvertent and referees are fair overall. "Foreign referees can make the same mistakes that Egyptian ones make,” Hossam was quoted by a local magazine last week as saying.
