Yesterday, Friday, Al-Ahly club retained the Egypt Cup title after defeating its traditional rival, Zamalek, with a score of 2-0, in the final match of the competition, which brought them together at the “Awal Park” Stadium in Saudi Arabia, amid a large crowd.
Al-Ahly won the Egypt Cup for the 39th time in its history and the second in a row after winning the last edition At the expense of Pyramidsbefore renewing his victory in the 91st edition of the competition yesterday, which is a record tally for the “Red Jerseys” owners in an exceptional and historic edition, as it is the first time that the Egypt Cup final has been held outside the country.
Al-Ahly waited until the last minutes of the match, when Imam Ashour, the former Zamalek player, in his first appearance in the red shirt, scored a goal in the 85th minute, then substitute Mohamed Magdy “Afsha” managed to score the net in stoppage time (90+5).
Conduct of the match
Zamalek was the relatively better side in the match, despite a technically mediocre first half that was dominated by defensive caution, and most of the play was confined to the midfield with an offensive advantage for the “White Castle” people who were more dominant and possessive.
The beginning was through Al-Ahly’s offensive pressure and a shot from Amr Al-Soulia that went over Mohamed Awad’s crossbar (4), and Ahmed Sayed “Zizou” responded with a shot from the outskirts of the penalty area (12) that Mustafa Schubert sent away to a corner.
Zamalek players took advantage of the extreme slowness in transmitting the opponent’s attack and passing errors to control the midfield, and Zizou launched numerous attacks, but they lacked the final touch.
Zamalek’s control increased at the beginning of the second half due to the changes of its Portuguese coach, Jose Gomez, and there were many offensive attempts by Mustafa Shalabi, Abdullah Al-Saeed, and substitute Nasser Mansi, while Al-Ahly’s defense and Schubert bore the burden of the offensive pressure.
Contrary to the course of the match, and from Al-Ahly’s first organized attack (85), the ball reached the substitute “Afsha”, who sent it cross into the penalty area, and he turned it around. Imam Ashour With a shot that went into the net to the left of Muhammad Awad. From a counterattack in the fifth minute of stoppage time, Ashour passed the ball to the one coming from behind, “Afsha,” and he shot it directly from the outskirts of the penalty area into the net to the left of Awad.
Ashour is the best
Ashour won the best player award in the match, and he said in statements reported by the Egyptian newspaper Al-Ahram: “Al-Ahly played… Egypt Cup final For the last minute, he succeeded in achieving his goal.” The Al-Ahly player indicated that he had been suffering from fatigue for three days, and there were doubts about his participation in yesterday’s match.
For his part, Swiss coach Marcel Kohler, Al-Ahly coach, said that his team did not give its best in the first half, and added that for this reason we talk between halftime with the players “to remove tension and bring the playing spaces closer together, which helped us score two goals.” Kohler continued: “Winning titles with Al-Ahly is what I always strive for, and I am never satisfied with it Coronation and victory“.
The match witnessed a distinguished celebration, in the presence of the most prominent figures in the game of football, as the Brazilian legend Ronaldo attended wearing an Al-Ahly shirt, and alongside him was the famous Italian Francesco Totti, who wore a Zamalek shirt, and in the middle of them was the experienced coach Jose Mourinho, as they entered the field together with the cup before the match, in the middle of the match. Presentation of the two teams.
Riyadh hosted the final according to an agreement between the Egyptian and Saudi Football Federations, and as part of the sporting events of the Riyadh season, organized by the General Entertainment Authority in the Kingdom.