Nuran AbdulMonim
Ali Maloul scored once again as Al Ahly defeated Zamalek 1-0 in the Egyptian Premier League’s final fixture.
After securing the league title last week, the champions aimed to finish their campaign with a win against their arch rivals.
The Reds created the first threat in the 11th minute, when Walid Soliman collected Hussein El-Shahat’s through pass, however, the veteran’s effort went just wide.
Two minutes ahead of the half-hour mark, Ahmed Sayed ‘Zizo’ missed a huge chance for the White Knights. The number 25 failed to convert Hamdy Nagguez’s accurate cross into the back of Mohamed El-Shennawy’s net.
Zamalek continued to push forward and in the 48th minute, El-Shennawy cleared Nagguez’s cross to reach Omar El-Said, who failed to finish into the empty net.
Just 10 minutes later, Maloul opened the scoring for the league champions. The Tunisian finished the loose ball into the back of the net after Zamalek’s goalkeeper Emad El-Sayed failed to catch Soliman’s freekick shot.
12 minutes before the final whistle, the Red Devils nearly doubled their lead following a brilliant effort from Ramadan Sobhi, who went up the right flank and squared the ball to Saleh Gomaa, however, his touch missed the target.
In the dying moments of the game, Zamalek were reduced to 10 men after Zizo was shown a red card.
After the win, Al Ahly finished the league with 80 points, meanwhile, Zamalek took the second spot with 72 points.
