Egypt skipper Ahmed Hassan came off the bench to notch Zamalek's sole goal with a Ronaldo-style freekick on his first touch, securing a vital Egyptian league victory over Gouna. The Whites edged a resilient Gouna side boasting three former-Zamalek players in keeper Mohamed Abdul-Monsef, defender Amr Al-Safti and midfielder Ashour Al-Adham. The win lifted Zamalek to third place on 23 points, three adrift of league leaders Harras Hodoud. It is Zamalek's first-ever home win over the Hurghada-based outfit, who frustrated their hosts to draws in two previous occasions in Cairo. Hassan breaks resilient Monsef A notable change in Hassan Shehata's starting line-up featured playmaker Alaa Ali deployed in the left-back position following the injuries of Mohamed Abdul-Shafi and Sabri Rahil. Zamalek were the better side in the first-half and were close to opening the scoring on several occasions but the visitors had keeper Abdul-Monsef to thank for a series of fine saves. The veteran guardian blocked Shikabala's close-range low shot, denied another effort by Razak Omotoyossi and thwarted an Ahmed Samir header. The hosts had a goal by Benin international Omotoyossi ruled out after the burly frontman allegedly committed a foul against Abdul-Monsef during a goal-mouth scramble before slotting home. A turning-point in the game saw Omar Gaber forced off the pitch after sustaining an injury as Hassan replaced him few minutes before the interval. On his first touch, the evergreen Hassan broke the deadlock on 44 minutes with a delightful free kick from 35 yards out, capitalizing on the poor positioning of the opponent's wall and ending their keeper's heroics. Zamalek eased off in the second half as Gouna dominated midfield but barely created clear-cut chances mustering only low strikes that were easily gathered by Abdul-Wahed Al-Sayed. Zamalek should have doubled their lead near the end as Gouna defender Karim Al-Daw hit his own post, followed by two misses from Shikabala, who squandered a glorious chance after going one-on-one with the keeper, before hitting another low drive marginally wide.
