Al Ahly has taken a major step forward towards retaining the Egyptian League title after beating Pyramids 1-0 at June 30 Stadium.
Wessam Abou Ali scored the winning goal after 28 minutes in a game for Al Ahly to complete the first-ever double over Pyramids FC in the Egyptian Premier League.
The game came just a few days after Al Ahly beat Pyramids FC 3-2 in a dramatic fashion in the first leg, thanks to a double from Wessam Abo Ali and Mohamed Magdy Afsha’s late winner.
Before the game started, Pyramids’ Moroccan right-back Mohamed Chibi refused to shake hands with with Al Ahly players following the infamous incident between him and Hussein El-Shahat last season.
Pyramids FC XI: Ahmed El-Shennawy; Ahmed Tawfik, Mahmoud Marei, Ahmed Samy, Mohamed Chibi; Mohanad Lashin, Blati Touré, Walid El Karti; Fagrie Lakay, Mostafa Fathi, Fiston Mayele.
Al Ahly XI: Mohamed El-Shennawy, Rami Rabia, Mohamed Abdelmoneim, Khaled Abdelfattah, Karim Fouad; Akram Tawfik, Marwan Attia, Emam Ashour; Reda Slim, Hussein El-Shahat, Wessam Abou Ali.
Reda Slim replaced Taher Mohamed Taher, who picked up an injury just a few minutes before the start during the warm-ups.
The game started in an electric fashion with both teams trying to open the score early, but the first real chance came when Mohamed Chibi fired from a distance that went straight at Mohamed El-Shennawy.
Two minutes later, El-Shahat performed an eye-catching piece of skill when he toyed with Ahmed Tawfik, but this time Pyramids’s defences cleared away-
The first twist of the game came after 15 minutes when Walid Al-Karti found space behind Karim Fouad on the left, before being brought down following a contact with the latter. Referee Felix Zweier refused to give a penalty but VAR intervened.
VAR referee Sascha Stegman called Zweier to the screen and after a quick review, the German referee did not deem the contact worthy of a penalty for Pyramids in a decision that infuriated Pyramids FC’s head coach Krunoslav Jurčić.
The game calmed down till the 27th minute when Reda Slim intercepted a Mohamed Chibi ball which went to Emam Ashour, whose through pass after a quick counterattack put Wessam Abou Ali through on goal before managing to squeeze the ball past Ahmed El-Shennawy to give Al Ahly the lead.
After the goal, Pyramids kept possession of the ball but without causing any danger. The German referee added five minutes of extra time which witnessed nothing for the first half to end in a 1-0 lead to Al Ahly.
No changes were made at the start of the second half, with Al Ahly trying to keep the ball in the opening 15 minutes after the break to preserve their lead.
In the 62nd minute, Pyramids FC boss brought on Mostafa Zalaka and Karim Hafez for Mostafa Fathy and Ahmed Tawfik respectively. Seconds after getting on, Zalaka wasted a glorious chance when the ball fell to him inside the six-yard only for him to send wide.
After the changes, Pyramids started to apply pressure and Al Ahly’s Koller had to respond and in the 67th minute, he took off Emam Ashour for Mohamed Magdi Afsha.
Jurčić then intervened again in the 68th minute and brought on Ramadan Sobhi and Osama Galal for Blati Touré and Mahmoud Marei respectively.
In the 78th minute, the Chibi-El-Shahat drama continued when the Moroccan performed a high-feet slide tackle into Al Ahly’s winger knee. The tackle caused a brawl between both teams’ players as the referee showed Chibi a straight red card after a VAR review.
Referee Zweier had to show a second red card, but this time to Al Ahly after Khaled Abdelfattah was given a second yellow card for bringing Zalaka down in the 90th minute.
Nine minutes of added time was left to play, which saw Al Ahly miss two huge chances through Afsha and Kahraba as they managed to hold onto their lead and claim a valuable win.
The Reds are now closer than ever to winning the Egyptian Premier League for the 44th time as they now sit second on the table with 66 points, two behind Pyramids FC; however, they still have three games in hand.