Ahmed Hassan evoked memories of his Anderlecht days but a new-look Zamalek were held to a 1-1 draw by Gaish in the third week of the Egyptian Premier League. For the first time ever, Zamalek played with an away purple outfit; a change that was made right before kickoff as hosts Gaish were wearing white socks. The game was delayed for 15 minutes for that purpose. Egypt skipper Hassan scored his fourth goal in as many games as he seems to have been inspired by the Purple and White; the kit that saw him dazzle with Belgian giants Anderlecht few years ago. But ex-Zamalek striker Ernest Papa Arko equalized for Gaish before half time with his third goal against his former club. Quick reply Zamalek took the lead after 29 minutes thanks to a scruffy goal by Hassan, who saw his effort take a couple of deflections before slowly rolling into the net, following some excellent work by full-back Ahmed Samir. Three minutes later, the Whites had an appeal for a penalty when Omar Gaber's cross hit the right hand of defender Sameh Hassan, but referee Gehad Greisha was not impressed. Zamalek also had an earlier claim for a carbon-copy play involving Shikabala and the same defender. Gaish were level in less than a minute when Arko notched home an exquisite cross from strike partner Salah Amin past Abdul-Wahed Al-Sayed. Rage against Greisha…Abdul-Wahed saves Shortly after the break, Amr Zaki though he had restored Zamalek's lead but this time the Egypt striker didn't get a helping hand from the linesman as he was clearly offside before hitting the empty net. While the decision was rather justified, a rash of insults against referee Greisha came from the stands, forcing the official to halt play for a minute, with Zamalek boss Hassan Shehata urging fans to stop for the team's sake. It was an ultra-defensive performance from Farouk Gaafar's men against his former Zamalek teammate Shehata, who was forced to drop striker Mido before kickoff due to injury. Despite relying on counter attack, Gaish had the best two chances of the half by Arko and Ayman Hefni, but Zamalek captain Abdul-Wahed came to his side's rescue with a couple of world-class saves. As the match ended, referee Greisha was forced to stay on the pitch for a few minutes in order to avoid the thrown objects from the Zamalek stands, amid protests from the Whites' players.
