Al Ahly fails to impress against lowly Tanta FC | VIDEO

Defending champions Ahly dropped points for the second match in a row after being held to a surprise 1-1 draw by lowly Tanta on Friday to miss out on the chance of closing the gap on Egyptian Premier League leaders Ismaily.

Moroccan striker Walid Azaro made the most of a defensive mistake from Tanta’s Mahmoud Masoud to give Ahly a first-half lead for his seventh goal of the season in one of the few highlights of a dour first half.

Tanta were back on level terms just after the hour mark, thanks to a comic own goal from Ahly’s central defender Ayman Ashraf. The Red Devils hardly troubled Tanta afterwards, with the hosts looking composed against their mighty opponents.

Ahly made an impressive start to the season, chalking up eight wins in their first nine matches, but slowed down after slumping to a 3-2 defeat by Maqassa in a thrilling match last Sunday, which marked their first league loss in 46 matches.

They are second in the table with 26 points, four behind leaders Ismaily who beat Ahly’s Cairo rivals Zamalek 1-0 on Thursday. However, Ahly will go two points clear of Ismaily on top of they win their two matches in hand.

Tanta lie 15th in the 18-team table on 13 points, two above safety.

There is a long way to go, and at the end we will be the champions,” El-Badry told the post-match news conference.

“Don’t worry, I told you the league was ours last term and this happened. It will happen again this season.”

“Of course I’m not satisfied with our performance today. We make a lot of mistakes because we press a lot but without real threats on goal,” he added.

“I will focus on this aspect during my discussions with the players and we will see how can we solve that.”