Al Ahly, with a line-up mixed of youngsters, were held to a goalless draw against El Gouna on Thursday in Matchday 1 of the EPL Cup group stage. 

Our youngsters put on a good performance today, but it was not enough to secure their first win while wearing the prestigious red jersey.

First Half 

Our players started the game building up from the back as they were keen to control the game’s tempo from the first minute. 

In the 16th minute, El Gouna had their first clear chance, but Mohamed Hany’s save kept the ball away from our net. 

The ball reached Karim Tarek, inside the box, who fired a first-time shot but Hany was in the perfect place to block the shot with his head.

Ziad Tarek, who preformed well in today’s game, sprinted down the right flank and sent a through pass to Hossam Hassan, but El Gouna’s defenders reached the ball and cleared it away. 

In the 22nd minute, El Gouna had another scoring chance, as Karim Tarek received the ball inside the box, but his shot was blocked by Mohamed Nossier. 

In the 31st minute, Salah Mohsen sprinted down the left flank and delivered a good pass to Ziad Tarek. Our youngster received the ball and dribbled past the defender, then curled a shot, but it went directly to the keeper’s hands. 

El Gouna had another scoring chance in the 44th minute. Karim Tarek collected the ball inside the penalty area and sent a ground cross, but Mostafa Shobeir managed to reach the ball before the opponent’s striker. 

One minute later, Ziad Tarek received the ball on the right flank and fired a right-footed shot, but it went to a goal kick and it was followed by the referee’s halftime whistle to declare a goalless draw at the break.

Second Half

The second half kicked off with El Gouna pushing forward to score the opener, but our defenders stood their ground and blocked all their attempts. 

Our first chance in the second half came when Mohamed Mahmoud delivered a brilliant outside-of-the-foot pass to Ziad Tarek. 

Our youngster then produced another sublime moment when he dribbled past Nour El Sayed and sent a cross inside the penalty box, but the ball was cleared by the defenders. 

In the 65th minute, Pitso Mosimane used his bench for the first time in the game, as Saleh Nasr joined the game instead of Ziad Tarek. 

Once again, Shobeir was needed to save his net as he blocked a dangerous shot inside the box to keep his net clean.

Ten minutes later, Ahmed Fakhry and Mohamed Ahmed “Sharkia” joined the pitch instead of Mohamed Nossier and Mohamed Mahmoud. 

The Red Eagles pushed forward to search for the winner, but El Gouna’s defense managed to block our attempts away from their net.

Ahmed Sayed Gharib and Ahmed Abdelnaby joined the game in the 86th minute instead of Karim Fouad and Hossam Hassan. 

Abdelnaby made his first appearance in the game one minute later by delivering a good cross, but the ball was cleared by the opponents’ defense. 

We kept pushing forward to score the winning goal, but all our attempts were blocked by El Gouna’s players until the referee blew his final whistle to announce a goalless draw at Al Ahly WE Al Salam Stadium.