Moemen Zakareya haunted his former club with a well-taken double as Ahly put Zamalek’s Egyptian Premier League title celebrations on hold with a 2-0 victory that helped him extend their unbeaten run against their Cairo foes to 20 matches.
The 27-year-old, who joined Ahly after leaving Zamalek last January, opened the scoring on 31 minutes with a superb shot from inside the area before ensuring the win with a beautifully-taken free kick nine minutes from time.
Ahly have not been defeated by their cross-town rivals since slumping to a 2-0 league defeat in 2007 after they had already won the title, winning 11 matches and drawing nine since then.
Zamalek needed at least a draw to win a league title that has eluded them since the last of their 11 triumphs in 2004 but looked a pale shadow of the powerful side that have tormented the majority of opponents this term.
They are still overwhelming favourites to win the title as they need only one point from their remaining two games against El-Geish and Wadi Degla.
Ahly, who are now six points behind Zamalek, will cause a huge upset should they win their last two games and Zamalek lose theirs. In this case, they will pip their rivals to the title virtue of a better head-to-head record after the previous derby in January ended in a 1-1 draw.
Zamalek finished with ten men after right-winger Hazem Emam received a straight red card in stoppage time for kicking out at Ahly’s youngster Ramadan Sobhi.
Watch the goals here:
After the match:
Press conference:
Goals review with Hassan Shehata
Hazem Emam comments on Zamalek’s poor performance today:
Aymen Hefny rushed to the hospital
Al Ahly fans celebrate after the win
Ramadan Sobhy tricks
