Ahli sealed their seventh straight Egyptian Premier League title on the spin with a thumping 5-1 victory over relegated Arab Contractors on Thursday. Goals from Wael Gomaa, Mohamed Barakat, Sherif Abdul-Fadil, Geddo and Hossam Ghaly grabbed the decisive victory for the Reds at the Military Academy as Ahmed Adel scored for Contractors. The triumph, the 36th in Ahli's history, is the sixth under the management of Portuguese Manuel Jose in the last seven years. Ahli now enjoy a seven-point lead over bitter rivals Zamalek, who only managed a 1-1 draw with Wadi Degla at home. Three goals…game over Jose started with Ayman Ashraf as a left back at the expense of the unsettled Sayed Moawad, while Geddo and Gomaa returned from suspension. The first attempt on target came from Contractors through a long-range shot from Salah Amin ‘Maradona', forcing Ahmed Adel to parry away. Ghaly replied with a fine shot from distance that went wide, but the next one from Moataz Eno was too hot for Mohamed Al-Akabawi to handle as Emad Meteb followed, but the Contractors keeper was adjudged to have brought down illegally. With Mohamed Abou-Treika absent, Gomaa stepped in confidently to send Al-Akabawi the wrong way and score his second penalty of the season on 21 minutes.
Barakat doubled the lead on the half-hour mark when he received a fine pass from Ghaly, turned and twisted past a defender before slotting home a low shot past the hapless keeper. Abdul-Fadil made it three eight minutes from the break when he converted Ahmed Fathi's corner into the net to put the scoreline beyond any doubt. The comfortable lead prompted Jose to replace the cautioned Gomaa by teenager Rami Rabiea two minutes from the interval as the title looked closer than ever at half time. Easy Contractors made a bright start to the second half when they pulled one back through midfielder Adel, who brilliantly volleyed in Maradona's cross with the outside of his boot. But it turned out to be a false alarm as Geddo restored Ahli's three-goal lead when he headed in Barakat's cross two minutes past the hour mark, beating the off-balanced keeper. At almost the same moment, Zamalek conceded against Wadi Degla at Cairo Stadium but it didn't matter for the champions anyway. The match turned into an exhibition for the league leaders with Contractors looking far from a contestant before Ghaly put the icing on the cake near the end. The Egypt midfielder saw his 25-yard strike fly into the net after slipping through the grasp of Al-Akabawi two minutes from time.
