A ten-man Zamalek side produced a never-say-die performance to come back from two goals behind and beat Gouna 3-2 in the Egyptian Cup quarter-finals. An Arafa Al-Sayed header and a stunning strike by former Zamalek midfielder Ashour Al-Adham gave Gouna a surprise 2-0 first-half lead. Zamalek, who were also behind against Wadi Degla in the last 16 tie, pegged back through Mahmoud Fathallah and Shikabala, forcing 30 minutes of extra-time, which saw Mohamed Abdul-Shafi snatch the victory in superb fashion after Ibrahim Salah had been sent off. Hassan Shehata's men march through to face the winner of Sunday's game between Harras Hodoud and Nasr. Shehata uncommonly started with a 4-4-2 formation, introducing Salah and Ahmed Gaafar for Salah Soliman and Hussein Hamdi. On the other hand, Gouna had two players who moved from Zamalek in the summer in their starting eleven, with center-half Amr Al-Safti and midfielder Al-Adham facing their former club. Another former employee For the second game running, Shehata's men were off to a poor start, conceding after 18 minutes when full-back Ahmed Adel sent in a pinpoint cross for Arafa to nod in past Abdul-Wahed Al-Sayed. Shortly after, Ahmed Hassan had a golden chance to level things from a terrific cross by Hazem Emam, but the veteran midfielder astonishingly missed the target from close range. It gradually turned into a one-way traffic and the second goal looked inevitable when Shikabala beat Gouna keeper Mohamed Abdul-Monsef, only for Adel to intervene with a superb clearance off the line, instinctively using his back heal. Adel's heroic save turned out to be massively crucial as Gouna doubled their lead against the run of play minutes later, thanks to a thunderous hit from range by Al-Adham into the top left-corner of the net.
Gouna were resilient but to no avail Another comeback Zamalek came out with all guns blazing after the break and managed to grab the much-needed early equalizer through Fathallah, who latched onto a wicked cross by Shikabala to volley in from point-blank range. The goal ignited Cairo Stadium fans and added more pressure on the visitors, who were lucky not to concede the leveler when Gaafar rattled Abdul-Monsef's post with a powerful header that the Gouna keeper knew nothing about. Shehata made a double substitution, surprisingly taking off Hassan and Zaki for Hamdi and Mohamed Ibrahim, in an attempt to refresh his frontline. But it had to be Shikabala with the dramatic equalizer as the talismanic number 10 coolly volleyed Gaafar's layoff past Abdul-Monsef, beating his former teammate with the weaker foot for the second time in as many games. Right after the goal, Zamalek were down to ten men when Salah was involved in an altercation with Nour Al-Sayed, before cruelly kicking the Gouna midfielder to receive his marching orders. Abdul-Shafi killer The red card forced Shehata to take off substitute forward Ibrahim and introduce defensive midfielder Soliman, while an exhausted Gouna side struggled to make use of the one-man advantage. In the first half of extra time, a fine team move saw right-back Emam brilliantly avoid the attentions of two defenders before cutting back with a cross for the unmarked Abdul-Shafi. The Egypt left-back met the deft cross with a magnificent first-time volley that screamed into Abdul-Monsef's net, marking a memorable victory for the Whites. Gouna, who also played 120 minutes a few days ago to beat Asyut Petroleum on penalties, did little to reply as they only threatened Abdul-Wahed's goal with a long-range shot from Nour that went wide.
