Al Ahly defeated Zamalek 5-3 on Friday night to secure a historic win over our arch-rivals, bringing back the memories of our memorable 6-1 victory in 2002.
Ali Maaloul and Aliou Dieng scored two goals each; while, our outstanding striker Mohamed Sherif kept his habit of visiting Zamalek’s net with a fantastic goal.
We moved to the top of the table with 9 points and we will enter the international break in a very happy mood.
First Half
The first 17 minutes of the game did not give any sign of what will happen next as our players failed to penetrate Zamalek’s defense but it was the silence before the hurricane.
Dieng found the room needed to shoot and the Malian did not hesitate to send one of his bullets into the net. The ball was deflected and was returned from the bar but Zamalek goalkeeper’s Mohamed Abo Gabal failed to control the rebound and put it inside his net.
We did not have time to celebrate as Ali Maaloul made one of his penetrations from the left flank, receiving the ball and cutting inside, forcing Zamalek’s defender Hamza Mathlouthi to tackle him and the referee whistled a penalty. Maaloul was the man behind the ball to convert it making the score 2-0.
Five minutes later, it was the time of real magic.
Amr El Soulia did not have the chance to send a cross but the midfielder decided to pull out some magic from his pocket. El Soulia served up a delightful rabona, which was met with a beautiful touch from Sherif to make the score 3-0.
Second Half
We conceded an early goal in the second half with a strong strike from Zamalek’s substitute Mostafa Fathy but we needed just one minute to show our response.
Dieng received the ball comfortably on the edge of the box and curled it in the top corner, giving the goalkeeper no choice to make the score 4-1.
Seven minutes later, El Soulia was the hero again as he followed a dead ball and reached it before Zamalek’s defender Mathlouthi, who was forced again to make another tackle and the referee was there to whistle a penalty.
Maaloul shot the ball and it was stopped by Abo Gabal but he failed to stop the rebound from Sherif who put the ball in the back of the net. After being consulted by the VAR officials, the referee ordered to retake the penalty and Maaloul was the man behind the ball again to score the fifth goal.
Mosimane used his bench, changing the whole attacking line of Afsha, Tau and Sherif with Luis Miquissone, Hussein El Shahat and Taher Mohamed Taher.
Also, the defensive partnership was changed as Ayman Ashraf and Badr Benoun were replaced by Yasser Ibrahim and Mohamed Hany.
Zamalek managed to add two late goals by a penalty from Zizo and a shot from Bencharki.
The minutes went on and our players defended their lead to win the Cairo derby, producing another night that will go down in history as one of our most beautiful nights in the derby.
Our players and coaching staff headed after the game to salute our passionate fans who enjoyed their return to Cairo International Stadium in the most beautiful way.
