Luis Miquissone opened his account with a brace as Ahly, playing in their first Egyptian Premier League game in almost two months, moved to the top of the Egyptian League with a 4-0 rout of a helpless Maqassa side on Tuesday.
The Mozambican winger netted twice in the first quarter of an hour and further goals from winger Hussein El-Shahat and youngster Zeyad Tarek gave Ahly a comprehensive victory.
The Red Devils, buoyed by a third-place finish at the FIFA Club World Cup earlier this month, returned to league action with a bang as they seek to wrestle the title back after arch-rivals Zamalek were crowned champions last season.
They are now top of the table with 22 points, two ahead of second-placed Pyramids and three clear of Zamalek, who played a game more. Maqassa lie third from bottom with eight points.
Miquissone joined Ahly from Tanzania’s Simba last summer but struggled to hold down a regular place, having only made seven appearances in all competitions.
But he staked his claim for a regular place with a fine display against Maqassa, who barely put up a fight.
The 26-year-old needed 13 minutes to open the scoring, creating space for himself on the edge of the area before drilling a low shot into the far bottom corner after a powerful shot from El-Shahat struck the woodwork.
He doubled the lead two minutes later in superb fashion, lobbing Maqassa’s keeper from a tight angle.
Maqassa’s only chance of the game fell to Nigerian forward Ahmed Abdulrasheed, whose long-range drive came back off the bar, but that was as good as it got for the visitors.
El-Shahat ended the match as a contest two minutes before the break when he was released by a deft defense-splitting pass from playmaker Magdi Afsha to fire home with aplomb.
Tarek, who excelled in the third-tier EFA Cup, came off the bench to complete the rout with three minutes remaining as Ahly enjoyed a walk in the park against Maqassa.
Watch all the GOALS here
They also welcomed back regular keeper Mohamed El-Shennawi, who had been out of action since suffering a hamstring injury in Egypt’s shootout win over Cote d’Ivoire in the African Nations Cup round of 16 last month.
