No doubt the 96th Cairo derby between Ahli and Zamalek was less enticing than expected as it lacked both goals and sparkle, but surely no one came out as a loser. The game was postponed a number of times because of the Egyptian parliamentary elections, the FIFA World Club Championship, the African Cup of Nations and finally the celebrations that followed winning the continental title, yet some how both teams seemed unprepared for the clash. Ahli went into the game with a depleted squad, suffering from exhaustion and various injuries due to the numerous competitions they participated in during the season and the participation of over ten players with their national teams in the African Cup of Nations. Zamalek, on the other hand, were still struggling to find their feet under new Portuguese coach Manuel Cajuda who guided the team to three successive wins but failed to produce the expected performances thus far. A lot was at stake for both teams and their fans in Saturday's match and a defeat for either of them would have hit where it really hurt. A defeat for Ahli would have put coach Manuel Jose under fire for his failure to build a reliable reserves arsenal for the African champions in the absence of pivotal players like Mohamed Barakat, Mohamed Shawki, Wael Gomaa and Gilberto among others.
A defeat for Ahli would have put coach Manuel Jose under fire for his failure to build a reliable reserves arsenal for the African champions. Even though the drop of form that Ahli suffered in the absence of such crucial players was obvious during and ahead of Saturday's game, Jose came out on top as he introduced a number of new faces like Haytham Al-Fazani, Ahmed Shedid and Amr Halawani, a move that would have been deemed catastrophic had Ahli lost to their arch-rivals. As for the Red Devil's fans, they were satisfied to see their second-tier team hold out against a first-string Zamalek side, even if their opponents weren't yet at their usual best. As for Zamalek, the biggest achievement was that they ended a four-match losing run against Ahli, which could have not came at a better time for the White Castle. The tie saved face for Cajuda and strengthened his rapport with Zamalek's fans, not to mention keeping the team theoretically in contention for this season's league title race, despite Ahli's three postponed matches. With both sides managing to save face with the draw, one can only assume the title race will relatively improve, compared to last season where Ahli were runaway winners, which will in turn benefit Egyptian football overall. Another positive outcome of the Cairo derby was that the cease-fire between Ahli and Zamalek fans, which surfaced since the Egyptian team's African title run, was still intact. And even though Saturday's Cairo derby will remain one of the dullest ever played the outcome couldn't have been more satisfying for all concerned parties given the circumstances.
