Zamalek showed no signs of missing their head coach as they saw off Ittihad 2-0 in the Egyptian Premier League opening day. Two second-half goals were enough for the Whites, with Egypt international Omar Gaber netting his first goal for the club and defender Mohamed Reda scoring an own goal. It was an impressive display from Zamalek despite being without manager Jorvan Vieira, who is still away for personal reasons. Second-half raid Zamalek, led by assistant coach Osama Nabih, had the upper hand throughout the game and should have taken the lead in the first half, only for Ittihad keeper Al-Hani Soliman to produce a superb save to deny Ahmed Gaafar. Zamalek looked sharp with the presence of flamboyant duo Mohamed Ibrahim and Ahmed Eid in attack – the latter making his debut following his winter move from Harras Hodoud. The up-and-coming Ibrahim created the opening goal of the game for Gaber with a quality back-heel touch, leaving the latter with the simple task of sliding past the keeper for his first-ever goal. Shortly after, Ibrahim sent Gaafar through with another incisive pass, the latter rounded the keeper but had defender Reda to thank for completing the job with a sliding tackle into his own net. Eid almost scored on his debut after some sublime passing by the Whites, but Soliman thwarted with a terrific save near the end.
