Title holders Ahli put their African woes behind them to ease past Ittihad 2-0 in Alexandria and remain on trail of Petrojet in the Egyptian League. Emad Meteb, whose last goal with Ahli came in the Egyptian Cup final against Zamalek in July, finally broke his scoring duck in the first-half. Forgotten man Ahmed Belal, who was given a rare start, sealed the victory in the 70th minute to help Ahli register a morale-boosting victory following their Champions League defeat to Etoile Sahel. The victory put the Cairo giants in third place of the league table with 21 points, four adrift of leaders Petrojet who played an extra match. Ittihad's disastrous form leaves them second from bottom on just seven points. Meteb has been impressive with Egypt in the Pan Arab Games and he made sure his strength is back after firing the visitors in front in the 34th minute. He curled in a free-kick past Ittihad's motionless keeper Al-Hani Soliman, who was to blame for Ahli's opener.
Ittihad struggle The hosts failed to mount any threat in the first-half while Ahli's swift passes helped them keep possession even though they didn't create clear-cut chances. Ittihad's first sight of goal came seven minutes after re-start when Youssef Hamdi exchanged passes with a teammate before drilling a shot that was denied by Essam Al-Hadari. Belal wasted a glorious opportunity to extend the lead in the 67th minute when he latched on to Emad Meteb's through pass and went clear on goal. Soliman was on alert to deny Belal's curling low effort. However, the former Konyaspor man made aments three minutes later. He was released by a deft pass from Moataz Eno before rounding Soliman and slotting into the empty net. Belal could have scored his second of the night nine minutes from time after he controlled Mohamed Abou-Treika's long ball inside the area but his close-range effort was tipped over by Soliman. Ahli keeper Al-Hadari's outstretched hand denied Hamdi's drive in stoppage time.
