Egyptian Premier League - news

ahram.org

Preview: Zamalek aim to keep alive dwindling Egyptian league hopes

Zamalek will be eyeing their eighth win in a row, their seventh under manager Mohamed Helmi

With only four matches left, Zamalek will be looking to maintain their dwindling Egyptian league hopes when they visit third-from-bottom Ittihad El-Shorta at Cairo's Arab Contractors Stadium on Saturday.

After Ahly managed to restore their eight-point lead at the top of the table following a 2-0 win over Dakhleya on Thursday, Zamalek's hopes of retaining the league title further faded, with their arch-rivals needing only two wins to win the trophy.

Zamalek, however, will be understandably keen to continue their winning run under manager Mohamed Helmi – who has guided them to six wins running since taking over from Scottish boss Alex McLeish early in May.

"The gap is not huge between us and Ahly," Zamalek forward Mahmoud Kahraba, who scored his side's sole goal in a 1-0 over ENPPI in their previous league game, told Al-Hayat TV on Wednesday.

"Yes, we got only four matches remaining, but nothing could be ruled out.

"We also compete in the domestic cup and the CAF Champions League. We won't accept anything other than finishing this season with a trophy."

The Whites will miss the services of midfielder Shikabala, who skipped several training sessions as he is understood to be keen to leave the club due to lack of first-team football under Helmi.

Egypt first-choice keeper Ahmed El-Shennawi will also sit out due to flu, according to football director Ismail Youssef. Playmaker Ayman Hefni and midfielder Ahmed Tawfik are still out due to injury while Zambian striker Emmanuel Mayuka was dropped for technical reasons.

 Zamalek are second on 63 points, while relegation threatened Shorta lie 16^th with 22.

Match facts: Ahly v Dakhleya (Egyptian Premier League)

Ahram Online provided a live score coverage for Thursday's match between Ahly and Dakhleya in the 31st match-day of the Egyptian Premier League

Full time: Ahly 2-0 Dakhleya
Scorers: Malick Evouna 64, 68

Yellow cards:
Ahmed Fathi (Ahly)
Gehad Genuidy, (Dakhleya)

Red card:
Gehad Genuidy, (Dakhleya)

Line-ups:

Ahly: Sherif Ekrami, Sabri Rahil, Saad Samir, Rami Rabia, Ahmed Fathi, Hossam Ashour, Hossam Ghaly, Moemen Zakareya, Walid Soliman (Saleh Gomaa 75) , Abdallah El-Said (Ramadan Sobhi 45), Malick Evouna (Emad Metaab 78) 

Dakhleya: Ahmed Fawzi, Gehad Genuidy, Assem saed (Ahmed Seddik 70), Ragab Bakar, Hossam Abdel-Gawad, Mahmoud Mansour, Farid Shawki, Eslam Abdel-Naim (Salah Moussa 79), Abdel-Aziz Moussa (Mohamed Gamal 57), Amr Marei, Emmanuel Karbogi

Referee: Mahmoud El-Banna

Venue: Borg El-Arab Stadium

League positions:

Ahly: 1st, 68 pts, 29 matches, 21 wins, 5 draws, 3 losses

Dakhleya: 7th, 44 pts, 30 matches, 11 wins, 11 draws, 8 losses

Wednesday 8 June

Petrojet 1-2 Harras El-Hodoud
Scorers: Bilal Gamal 77 / Mohamed Farouq 61, Hossam Hassan (og) 83

Wadi Degla 1-1 Arab Contractors
Scorers: Karim Moustafa 52 / Mahmoud Alaa 44

Smouha 3-3 Ismaily
Scorers: Hossam Hassan 16, Hossam Salama 83 (pen), 90 / Emmanuel Banahene 23, Taha Ibrahim 59, Karim Bambo 78

Thursday 9 June

Masry 2-0 Ittihad of Alexandria
Scorers: Mohamed Mosaad 45, Saed Mourad 52

ENPPI 2-1 Talae  El-Geish
Scorers: Ahmed Abdel-Zaher 27, Ibrahim Yehya 39 / Arafa El-Sayed 11

Ahly 2-0 Dakhleya
Scorers: Malick Evouna 64, 68

Maqassa 1-0 Ghazl El-Mahalla
Scorer: Hisham Mohamed 20 

Aswan 0-2 El-Entag El-Harby
Scorers: Gedo 67, Salah Amin 82

Saturday 11 June

22:00 Ittihad El-Shorta vs Zamalek