Ahli grabbed a hard-fought 1-0 victory over Ittihad Alexandria in their Egyptian league round-21 match that took place on Wednesday. Mohamed Shawki scored Ahli's winner in the 46th minute of the match to help his side maintain their position as league leaders. Ahli top the league standings with a tally of 56 points, seven points ahead of second-place rivals Zamalek, while Ittihad hold seventh place with 27 points. Ahli showed average form in the match, and failed to make use of a host of chances against a below-par Ittihad. Ahli almost opened the score early when international referee Naser Abbas awarded them a penalty-shot in the 13th minute, but Emad Al-Nahas squandered the chance and sent the ball into the stands. Ittihad goalkeeper Samir Ashour jumped for a miraculous save after Angolan striker Flavio Amado headed a Wael Riad cross towards the net in the 24th minute. Former Ahli striker Mohamed Farouk blew Ittihad's first chance to score after heading the ball past the post. Emad Meteb also squandered a chance to score for Ahli after connecting with a Hassan Mostafa cross and firing it toward the Ittihad net, only to be saved by Ashour. Ahli boss Manuel Jose fielded duo Ahmed Samir and Ahmed Galal instead of Riad and Mohamed Abdul-Wahad in the second-half in an attempt to elevate the team's performance. Shawki scored Ahli's winner only one minute after the restart connecting with a Galal cross, that Flavio skillfully allowed to pass to the talented midfielder, and firing the ball from short-range. Flavio went on to squander two excellent chances to score in the 68th and 84th minutes. Ahli, who reached a number of 50 straight victories, two short from Zamalek's 52-match record, will next face Asyut Cement in a match postponed from round-15. In other matches, Ismaili defeated Aluminum 2-0 thanks to Mohamed Abou-Greisha and Mohamed Soliman strikes, while Harras Al-Hodoud suffered a 2-1 defeat to Koroum.
