Zamalek's second-place hopes suffered a huge blow as they succumbed to a 3-2 defeat to relegation-threatened Telecom Egypt on Monday. The Whites' defeat and Ismaili's 1-0 win over Harras Al-Hodoud meant that the Dervishes took over in the runner-up spot after champions Ahli, who drew 0-0 with Gaish. Mohamed Fadl's winner in Ismailia helped Ismaili level on 53 points with Zamalek, but the Dervishes have a better goal difference. On the other hand, Telecom's victory boosted their chances of survival, as they jumped to 11th place with 31 points. Abdul-Aziz Show Zamalek ended the first half as victors as Gamal Hamza broke the deadlock seven minutes from the break when he skillfully flicked in Osama Hosni's cross.
Abdul-Aati scored, but missed a penalty However, Telecom made a courageous comeback in the second-half, inspired by a superb performance from Nigerian striker Abdul-Wahed Abdul-Aziz. Shortly after the break, Abdul-Aziz capitalized on a fatal error by Wissem El-Abdi, who sluggishly lost possession to the Telecom forward. The through-on-goal Abdul-Aziz fed Magdi Abdul-Aati with a sumptuous pass, only for the latter to hit the empty net. The on-fire Abdul-Aziz put Telecom in front in the 63rd minute, with a close range tap-in. The Nigerian then outpaced Ahmed Magdi, who felled him inside the area, giving the referee no option but to point to the spot. However, Abdul-Wahed Al-Sayed blocked Abdul-Aati's penalty, but Diaa Abdul-Rahman notched in on the rebound in the 70th minute. Four minutes later, Hamza added his second of the game with a magnificent curling shot from 25 yards out, a contender for goal of the season.
