Zamalek failed to continue their recent revival after being held to a 1-1 away draw by Harras Al-Hodoud in the Egyptian League on Tuesday. Ahmed Abdul-Ghani fired the hosts in front early in the first-half but Abdul-Halim Ali cancelled out his effort in the 27th minute. Zamalek, who won their previous two outings at the expense of Masri and Ghazl Mahalla, are fourth in the league table with 17 points, five adrift of leaders Petrojet who have a game in hand. Military club Al-Hodoud lie ninth on 11 points. Abdul-Ghani sent the home fans into ecstasy after just two minutes when he capitalized on Zamalek defenders' poor positioning to open the scoring. A silky pass from Ahmed Eid released Abdul-Ghani, who ghosted behind Beshir Al-Tabie and Mahmoud Fathallah to slot past Zamalek keeper Mohamed Abdul-Monsef. Zamalek them dominated in terms of possession but failed to create clear-cut chances. Sherif Ashraf repeatedly shifted positions with Gamal Hamza, the moves which bothered Al-Hodoud defense.
Hodoud players celebrate the opener Ali drew Zamalek level in the 27th minute after finishing off a brilliant individual effort by Ahmed Ghanem. The pacy right-back rushed from the halfway line and got the better of Al-Hodoud's Mostafa Moushir before providing a low cross to Ali for an easy tap-in. Ashraf should have scored for the visitors in the 66th minute when he got to the end of Ghanem's pinpoint cross at the far post but Al-Hodoud keeper finger-tipped the ball away. Ahmed Abdul-Raouf almost snatched the win deep into stoppage time but his curling shot went just wide of the post. Elsewhere, Ismaili claimed their first win under new coach Ismail Hefni after securing a 2-0 away victory over Al-Baladeya. Youssef Gamal broke the deadlock in the 70th minute with a fine header before Iraqi striker Mostafa Karim added the second ten minutes later with a low shot at the near post. Watch Hodoud-Zamalek match goals
