Ahli registered a routine Egyptian league victory over Gaish on Thursday, beating the military outfit 3-0 at Cairo Stadium. Ahmed Fathi broke the deadlock in the 10th minute with a lucky strike before setting up Geddo with the second seven minutes later. Veteran playmaker Mohamed Abou-Treika added another goal from the spot in the second half to make life more difficult for Farouk Gaafar's men. Ahli regained second place with 26 points, two adrift of leaders Harras Hodoud but have a game in hand, while Gaish remained 14th on nine. Gaish, who sealed promotion to the top-flight in the 2004/2005 season, have now failed to beat the Reds in 15 league meetings, only winning three points out of a possible 45. A red half Ahli piled on the pressure outright and were nearly rewarded on five minutes but the visitors had the post and keeper Emad Al-Sayed to thank following two quick attempts by Geddo. The Reds continued their sustained pressure and Al-Sayed could do nothing to stop the opener, which saw Fathi shoot from way out only for his venom-less drive to take a huge deflection off Sameh Hassan's head into the net. Fathi almost stole the show once more with a terrific first-time shot that flew wide as the Egypt defender superbly dished out an assist few minutes later to double Ahli's lead. A wicked cross left Geddo with the easy task of heading home past the keeper from close range as Ahli were two-nil up on 17 minutes. Gaish coach Gaafar had to interfere in order to save his out-of-sorts team when he introduced influential striker Ernest Papa Arko for midfielder Michael Mariano after just 22 minutes. Dull half and dubious penalty Gaish looked better after the interval with skillful playmaker Ayman Hefni causing menace to Ahli's backline but it was again the hosts who struck early on. A cool penalty from classy playmaker Abou-Treika completed the rout after Geddo had easily fallen to the ground following the slightest of touches inside the area. It appeared to be a less serious challenge than the one against Abdullah Al-Saied in the first half, in which the Ahli playmaker was cautioned for simulation. The home side maintained the upper hand and Walid Soliman forced a fine save from the keeper, but the 3-0 scoreline was enough for Manuel Jose's men. Jose handed under-fire striker Fabio Junior a chance to prove his credentials with 20 minutes remaining, but the Brazilian once again failed to produce anything significant.
