Substitute Mikael Dodzi scored the only goal as Gaish pulled off a famous 1-0 victory over Zamalek in the Egyptian Premier League on Thursday. A wonderful counter-attack move gave the military side their fourth win in three years over Zamalek, marking Henri Michel’s first defeat with the White Knights. Gaish jumped to fifth place on seven points, leveling with Zamalek, who slipped to fourth place behind Ahli, Petrojet and Ismaili. Sherif Ashraf was given the nod beside Amr Zaki upfront as Mido started on the bench. African duo Remi Adiko and Ibrahim Ayew were also given starting roles. At the other end, Ahmed Zakaria replaced the suspended Hossam Abdul-Aal, while in-form strikers Salah Amin and Ernest Papa Arko led the Gaish attack. Long Shots Zamalek dominated possession in a goalless first half, but Gaish looked dangerous on the counter, thanks to the relentless Papa Arko. Zaki tested Gharib Hafez with an ambitious effort in the 15th minute, but the Gaish keeper parried the Egypt striker’s effort. As they struggled to breach Gaish’s deep defense for long, Zamalek had to turn to long shots.
Hassan Mostafa tried his luck from 30 yards but his shot went wide and Zaki fired another shot into Hafez’s hands before half time. Dodzi Stunner Shortly after the break, Farouk Gaafar took off the league’s top scorer Amin and brought on Dodzi, only for the Togolese to stun Zamalek in no time. Gaish’s counter-attack strategy worked perfectly in the 15th minute when Mamdouh Abdul-Hai sent Dodzi through on goal, and the latter smashed in past Mohamed Abdul-Monsef. Minutes later, Michel introduced Mido for Ashraf before Mohamed Abdul-Shafi replaced Adiko, who was booed by the angry Zamalek fans upon his exit. Zamalek committed men forward in search for the equalizer and Mido came close to scoring his maiden goal, but his header went inches wide. Five minutes from time, Ayew almost scored a wonder strike to level things for Zamalek, only to see his unstoppable volley go agonizingly wide of the right post. Gaish held on to the famous win, their third on the trot during the first half of the season over the fallen Cairo giants. | ||||||||
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