Al-Ahly defender Yasser Ibrahim scored a late clean sheet to give his side a late win against Smouha in the third round of the league at the Cairo Stadium.
Yasser Ibrahim scored Al-Ahly’s winning goal in the 87th minute with a rocket shot from outside the penalty area.
Yasser Ibrahim featured for the first time this season after missing the first two matches against Smuha to lead his side to victory and earn man of the match honors.
With this result, Al-Ahly increased its score to 9 points, which equaled Pyramid with the same number of points at the top of the league.
Smuha remained in 17th place with one point after a draw and a loss.
Al-Ahly has been out of contract for the past two seasons after failing to win the first 3 matches.
Al-Ahli won 3-2 against Sharqiya Enpi in the first leg, then 2-0 against Zed, before securing a clean sheet victory against Smouha today.
Smuha made a change after the pre-match warm-up, replacing Abdel Rahman Ameer with Mohamed Said Makaruna in the match sheet.
Smouha coach Ahmed Abdel Aziz chose to bring Ahmed Abdel Rasoul to the starting line-up at the expense of Amer.
Formation:
Al-Ahli: Mustafa Schubert – Mohamed Han – Yasser Ibrahim – Amr El Ghazar – Ahmed Nabil Kuka – Marwan Attia – Ali Mahmoud – Ahmed Sayed “Zizou” – Ashraf Benchark – Taher Mohamed Taher – Sofian Benjedida
Al-Ahli substitutes: Mohamed El-Shenawi – Yassin Marey – Hadi Riad – Karim Fouad – Monsef Bakrari – Mohamed Magdi “Afsha” – Hussein El-Shahat – Ahmed Reda – Aktai Abdullah
Smuha: Ahmed Mihoub – Hisham Hafez – Mohamed Desouk – Mohamed Raghab – Abdel Rahman Amer – Samir Fekri – Amr El-Sisi – Atjiko Samado – Khaled Al-Gandour – Mohamed Farouq – Fadi Farid
Substitutes for Smuha: Hussein Teymur – Ahmed Abdel Rasoul – Marwan Hamdi – Ahmed Al-Nadri – Mohamed Adel – Abdel-Ghani Mohamed – Ali Gamal – Emmanuel Ittik – Mohamed Kone
Match details:
The match started quietly between the two sides and until the 40th minute, Al-Ahli had only fired two shots at the crossbar and the crossbar.
After the 40th minute, Al-Ahly managed to get 6 shots on goal, including a shot between the posts that was blocked by Smuha goalkeeper Ahmed Mihoub.
Smuha left the first half without a shot.
Al-Ahly’s first chance came in the 13th minute after a run by Ashraf Benchark played to Koka, who played in a cross, but Smouha defender Mohamed Dessouk stepped in to clear the ball before Taher Mohamed Taher beat him for a corner.
Mohamed Hani sent a thumbs up in the 34th minute that went past Sofiane Benjeda but was stopped by the Smuha defence.
Marwan Attia attempted a shot from outside the penalty area, but it went wide of Smuha’s left post.
The keeper saved a dangerous chance for Al Ahli after Taher followed up Zizou’s header with a header from inside the box that hit the right post.
Ahmed Mihoub then shone, blocking Ashraf Benchark’s header in the second minute of stoppage time.
The first half ended in a scoreless draw.
Al-Ahli kept up the pressure in the second half and tried to score an early goal.
Taher received a yellow card in the 55th minute against Khaled Al-Ghandour of Smouha.
Referee Amin Omar then issued a yellow card for a clash between Mohamed Hani and Amr El-Sisi.
Zizu almost scored against Smuha after a counterattack in the 58th minute, but Mihub saved it.
Smuha then made two substitutions, Abdel-Ghani Mohamed replaced Ahmed Farouq, Mohamed Adel replaced Samado Atjiko, then Ahmed El-Nadri and Emmanuel Nemouk replaced Amr El-Sisi and Mohamed El-Desouk.
Amouta responded by bringing on Monsef Bakrari in place of Ali Mahmoud and Taher and Afsha to take over on the right.
Yasser Ibrahim attempted a header following Ben Sharq’s 70th-minute corner kick, but the Al-Ahli defender’s header went over the crossbar.
Al-Ahly’s players were called for a penalty in the 80th minute after Ahmed Al-Nadri made a decisive tackle on Montsef’s leg, but the foul was from outside the penalty area.
Smuha made the final change with Gamal Lalam replacing Hisham Hafez, while Amouta responded by replacing Aktai Abdullah Zizou.
Monsef made a fine decision from the right and sent in a cross, followed by a header that went over the bar.
In the 87th minute, Al-Ahli’s fateful goal came when Yasser Ibrahim’s rocket shot from outside the penalty area went into the net.
At half-time, Ahmed Reda replaced Sofian Benjedida in Al-Ahly’s final substitution, after which the match ended with Al-Ahly winning by a clean sheet.
