Zamalek easily brushed aside by Al Ahly 3-0 | VIDEO
Ahly made the most of some dreadful Zamalek mistakes to crush their cross-town rivals 3-0 in the Cairo derby on Monday, spoiling the debut of coach Ehab Galal and moving top of the Egyptian Premier League.
Some slack defending allowed Ahly to grab an early lead, thanks to a third-minute goal from winger Moemen Zakareya who had just agreed to join Jeddah-based club Ahly on loan until the end of the season.
Zamalek, who moved the ball around smoothly and poured forward after falling behind, struggled to create openings but had a golden chance to level the score when they awarded a penalty in the 31st minute, only for out-of-favour striker Bassem Morsi to waste it after Ahly goalkeeper Mohamed El-Shennawi dived the right way.
The White Knights were punished for the miss at the other end, with experienced playmaker Abdallah El-Said converting another penalty three minutes before the break to give Ahly a 2-0 lead at halftime.
Moroccan striker Walid Azaro, who was taken off at the end after suffering a cut above his eye, completed the rout nine minutes after the restart when a slip by Zamalek keeper Ahmed El-Shennawi, who committed several costly errors throughout the match, left him with an easy finish after a brilliant assist from winger Walid Soliman.
Zamalek finished with ten men after substitute Mohamed Ibrahim was sent off for a second bookable offence.
Ahly extended their unbeaten league sequence against nemesis Zamalek to 17 matches in a run stretching back to 2007. Since then, Zamalek could only defeat Ahly twice in the Egypt Cup and once in the domestic Super Cup.
The bitter defeat ruined the debut of Ehab Galal, who took over at Zamalek following the sacking of Montenegrin coach Nebojsa Jovovic. It also virtually ends their hopes of competing for the league title as they lie fourth on 28 points, 11 behind Ahly who have a game in hand.
Ahly have a two-point lead over main challengers Ismaily, with both sides playing the same number of games.
