Al Ahly recovered from an early setback to defeat Al Masry 4-2 and go top of the Egyptian Premier League.
The Cairo giants fell behind early, with former striker Salah Mohsen heading in Karim El-Iraki’s cross in the sixth minute. Emam Ashour levelled in the 36th minute, finishing from close range after a well-worked move that ended with a pin-point cross from Wessam Abou Ali.
Just before the break, Abou Ali headed in Mohamed Hany’s cross, but the goal was disallowed due to what appeared to be an earlier offside against Achraf Bencharki. However, just a few minutes later, Ahmed Kouka’s cross was mishandled by goalkeeper Mahmoud Gad, allowing Taher Mohamed to tap in and give Al Ahly a crucial 2–1 lead just before the break.
In the second half, Abou Ali extended the lead in the 58th minute with a free-kick that caught Gad out of position. Ashour then won a penalty and converted it successfully in the 79th minute to make it 4-1.
Al Masry pulled one back in the 81st minute through substitute Fakhreddine Ben Youssef. Mohamed El Shenawy preserved Al Ahly’s two-goal advantage with a crucial save to deny Karim Bambo late on.
The victory moves Al Ahly to 52 points, two ahead of Pyramids, who face National Bank of Egypt tomorrow hoping to return to top. With three rounds remaining after tomorrow’s matches, the title race is finely poised, and tensions have been further heightened by the Appeals Committee’s decision today to postpone their ruling on a possible three-point deduction for Al Ahly, after their no-show against Zamalek in March.
