The Red Eagles were held to a 1-1 draw against Ismaily in Alexandria on Wednesday night in the Egyptian Premier League. Mohamed Sherif, Al Ahly’s striker, put us in front after 22 minutes while Ismaily’s Fakhereedine Ben Youssef equalized in the second half.

First Half
Opportunities were few and far in the opening minutes of the game despite a complete dominance from our players.

Our first clear chance in the game came via Junior Ajayi, our winger, after 19 minutes but his shot went out of target after being tackled by the goalkeeper.

Three minutes later, Ali Maaloul, Mohamed Magdy Afsha, and Mohamed Sherif combined well on the counter. Maaloul sent a perfect pass using his weak right foot but it reached Afsha. Our in-form playmaker received the ball and sent a beautiful pass to Sherif, who put the ball in the back of the net.

We lost Sherif five minutes from half-time after the player suffered a pain in his hamstring muscle, forcing him to leave the pitch to be replaced by Walter Bwalya.

Second Half
We returned for the second half ready and willing to add the second goal to kill the game. Bwalya had an early chance in the second half after dribbling the goalkeeper but the ball was cleared by Ismaily’s defender.

In the 60th minute, the game was stopped as the referee checked the VAR for a potential penalty for Ismaily but the penalty was denied as Aliou Dieng, our midfielder, was tackled in the build-up of Ismaily’s attack.

Pitso Mosimane used his bench again as Hamdy Fathy replaced Junior Ajayi to add more power to the midfield.

In the 65th minute, Ismaily equalized the score by Fakhereedine Ben Youssef’s header.

We pushed forward after the equalizer and Mosimane made two substitutions, with Aliou Dieng and Hussein El Shahat leaving the game for Taher Mohamed Taher and Salah Mohsen.

Taher had a clear chance to score when he had the ball in the right flank but his shot missed the target.

Our efforts continued to score the winning goal but we were not sharp in front of the goal until the final whistle.

Mini Match
Venue: Alexandria Stadium
Occasion: Matchweek 29 of the Egyptian Premier League
Referee: Mohamed El Hanafy

Al Ahly’s Starting Line-up:
Mohamed El Shenawy, Akram Tawfik, Ali Maaloul, Yasser Ibrahim, Ayman Ashraf, Aliou Dieng, Amr El Soulia, Mohamed Magdy Afsha, Hussein El Shahat, Junior Ajayi and Mohamed Sherif.

Substitutions:
Walter Bwalya (Mohamed Sherif)
Hamdy Fathy (Junior Ajayi)
Salah Mohsen (Hussein El Shahat)
Taher Mohamed Taher (Aliou Dieng)

Goals:
Mohamed Sherif 23’
Fakhereedine Ben Youssef 65’

Next Match:
Al Ahly will face Enppi on Saturday 14 August in the Egyptian Premier League.