Al Ahly held to a scoreless draw against Talae El-Gaish

Defending champions Ahly were held to a scoreless draw by Talae El-Gaish on Tuesday to lose more ground in the title race as they trail leaders Zamalek by four points with three matches left to play.

Zamalek beat Wadi Degla 1-0 to edge closer to their first league title since 2015 as they have 73 points.

The Red Devils started with their usual pressing game but were countered by a solid performance from their mid-table opponents, who kept them at bay.

Pisto Mosimane’s men dominated possession and had their best chance cleared off the goal line when defender Eslam Gamal made a sliding tackle to deny Yasser Ibrahim’s header.

After the interval, Ahly attacked en masse, with Mosimane throwing all his attacking options, forcing El-Gaish to drop back deep to their area.

El-Geish keeper Mohamed Bassam made some superb saves to thwart a well-placed header from Salah Mohsen and a couple of chances from Mohamed “Afsha” Magdi and Hussein El Shahat.

Second-half substitutes Marwan Mohsen, Taher Mohamed Taher and Junior Ajayi couldn’t make their presence felt and lacked a cutting edge.

On the other hand, El Gaish found acres of spaces in their opponents’ area and keeper Mohamed El Shennawi denied Ahmed Samir and Nasser Mansi in one-on-one situations to prevent Ahly from falling to their third defeat this season.