Ten-man Zamalek kept alive their hopes of winning silverware this season after coming from behind to thrash Suez Cement 4-1 and reach the Egyptian Cup semis on Thursday. Mohamed Al-Fayoumi stunned the home crowd after seven minutes as Suez Cement had the upper hand in the first-half. Despite Gamal Hamza's dismissal for two bookings early in the second half, Zamalek managed to storm back. The hosts took advantage of Suez Cement's naïve approach to grab a much-needed win through strikes from Osama Hassan, Mostafa Gaafar, Amr Zaki and Mohamed Ibrahim. Instead of trying to defend their lead, Suez Cement left gaps in their backline, allowing Zamalek to launch raids on their goalie. Zamalek, who haven't won a single title for three years, will face Harras Al-Hodoud in the semi-final. They will be hoping to reach their third final in three years. Arab Contractors, who defeated Aluminum 4-1 earlier in the day, will play one-time cup winners ENPPI. Suez Domination Zamalek had the first chance after just one minute when Ahmed Abdul-Raouf's curling shot from inside the area narrowly missed the target. Suez Cement surprisingly dominated afterwards and Zamalek coach Ruud Krol was made to pay for fielding natural right-back Ahmed Ghanem in the central back role. In the fourth minute, Mohamed Al-Saghir ghosted behind Ghanem to latch onto a deft pass and go clear on goal but his effort was blocked by Mohamed Abdul-Monsef. However, the Zamalek guardian could do nothing to prevent Suez Cement from taking a deserved lead three minutes later, with Ghanem once again being the culprit. He tried to clear the danger from Zamalek's area, but his poor clearance hit the chest of Al-Fayoumi who controlled the ball and chipped over Abdul-Monsef.
Cement continued to capitalize on Zamalek's huge gaps in their backline. The Cairo giants had to thank Abdul-Monsef for denying Al-Fayoumi from point-blank range in the 35th minute. Zaki should have leveled the score few moments later when he was released by Osama Hassan's through pass inside the area. The Egypt striker tried to curl a low shot into the far corner but his effort went wide of the post. Pulsating Half The second-half was a very exciting affair, with Zamalek in particular squandering several clear-cut chances to grab the equalizer. Krol introduced Hamza instead of skipper Hazem Emam while midfielder Alaa Abdul-Ghani made way for youngster Ibrahim. Zaki wasted a glorious opportunity five minutes after re-start when a mis-hit clearance by an opponent picked him out. But he chose a difficult option as he tried to directly head goalwards instead of controlling the ball. His effort went just wide of the post. Hassan finally drew Zamalek level in the 72nd minute when his attempted cross from a right-wing free-kick flew past a badly positioned Wissam Ismail and inside the far post. Two minutes later, Gaafar combined with Zaki to put Zamalek ahead and send the home fans into ecstasy. The former Baladeya man released Zaki who went one-on-one with Ismail. The prolific frontman's initial shot was blocked by the keeper into the path of Gaafar, who tapped in into an empty net. Zamalek were awarded a deserved penalty seven minutes before the break when Hassan was tripped by Mohamed Sallam. Zaki stepped-up to add the third. Ibrahim, who put in a promising display, completed the rout one minute before the final whistle with an ice-cool finish into the near post.
