Ahli restored their lead in the Egyptian league after a hard-fought 1-0 victory over Harras Al-Hodoud on Monday in Alexandria. Back-in-form striker Mohamed Barakat scored Ahli's winning goal in the 35th minute. Ahli clinched back the lead from rivals Zamalek with a tally of 41 points, while Harras Al-Hodoud remain at fifth place with 26 points. The match kicked-off to a blazing start as both teams fought to settle the match early in their favor. Ahli squandered a host of chances to score early in the match when Angolan striker Flavio Amadu fired a cross from inside the Harras area right beside the right post.
Mohamed Abou-Treika also failed to open the score for Ahli in the sixth minute after Harras skipper Mohamed Halim intercepted the close-range shot. Harras picked up their pace and launched a series of failed attacks on Ahli and missed their greatest chance to score in the 13th minute after striker Ahmed Abdul-Ghani steered a great header, that was saved by Ahli goalkeeper Essam Al-Hadari. Barakat grabbed the lead for Ahli after Abou-Treika picked up a loose ball from a Harras defender and passed fed Barakat, who eased the ball into the home net. Harras lost skipper Mohamed Halim at the start of the second-half after committing a serious tackle on Barakat in the dying minutes of the first-half. Ahli continued their field-domination after Halim's departure and pressed hard on the Harras El-Hodoud defenses, but failed to reach the net once more.
