Khaberni - Oday Dabbagh scored a header in the second half, bringing Zamalek within one point of clinching the Egyptian Premier League football title with a 1-0 win over Smouha, coinciding with Pyramids drawing 1-1 with their host Ceramica Cleopatra in the penultimate round of the tournament this Tuesday.
Zamalek needed to win along with a stumble from the second-placed Pyramids and third-placed Al-Ahly to secure the title one round before the end.
With this result, Zamalek’s points rise to 53 in the lead, two points ahead of Pyramids and three points ahead of Al-Ahly who won 3-0 against ENPPI simultaneously.
Zamalek has the advantage in head-to-head clashes with Pyramids.
Smouha started the first half strong, and Zamalek entered the game after about 20 minutes.
Samuel Amadi, a Smouha player, almost opened the scoring with a solo effort, but his right-footed shot went just past the post.
Before half an hour passed, Smouha's goalkeeper Ahmed Mihoob made a save against a powerful shot from outside the penalty area.
Both teams continued their attempts in the second half, until Dabbagh succeeded in shaking the net just after passing an hour slightly, taking advantage of a cross from Juan Bezerra, who came on as a substitute at the start of the second half before exiting injured in the 68th minute.
Smouha pressed in the last 10 minutes to equalize, and El Mahdi Soliman saved a certain goal for Zamalek in stoppage time of the second half.
In another match at the same time, Pyramids put up a strong performance and thought they had taken the lead against Ceramica Cleopatra in the 21st minute, but the goal was ruled out for an offside by Fiston Mayele.
Ceramica took the lead through Mohamed Reda who fired a low shot into the tight corner in the 30th minute, before Nasser Maher equalized six minutes later with a powerful shot inside the penalty area.
In the stoppage time of the first half, Pyramids thought they had taken the lead with a header by Ahmed Samy after a long pass from a free kick, but the referee disallowed the goal for offside.
Meanwhile, Al-Ahly was the first to score in the seventh minute through Hussein El Shahat with a powerful shot in the tight corner, before Ahmad Mostafa (Zizo) extended Al-Ahly’s lead from a penalty kick in the 21st minute.
The referee awarded the penalty after Enppi’s goalkeeper Abdel Rahman Samir tripped Hussein El Shahat inside the area.
From a quick counter-attack after Enppi lost the ball near the penalty area, Achraf Bencharki fired a fine shot into the net in the second minute of the second half.
