Al Ahly were held to a 1-1 draw against National Bank of Egypt SC at Al Ahly WE Al Salam Stadium in Matchday 5 of the EPL Cup on Sunday.
Walid Soliman broke the deadlock with a staggering finish, but National Bank SC’s player, Mohamed Helal, managed to equalize the score.
First Half
The first half kicked off with the National Bank players pushing forward to score the early opener. However, our defenders stood their ground and prevented them from scoring.
Our players then started to control the ball and managed to control the game’s tempo.
In the 22nd minute, National Bank had a scoring chance as Mohamed Bassiouny collected a miss pass at the edge of the box and then fired a strong shot, but his efforts went over the bar to a goal kick.
We upped the pressure afterward to break the deadlock, but National Bank’s defenders were solid and blocked all our attempts.
In the 31st minute, Ziad Tarek was close to score. Walid Soliman dribbled past a player and then passed the ball to Tarek, who fired a right-footed shot, but his efforts went to a goal kick.
Four minutes later, National Bank’s Ahmed Yassin was close to score the opener, but his header missed our net and went to a goal kick.
Both teams kept searching for the opener, but the first half ended in a goalless draw.
Second Half
The second half started with the Red Eagles pushing forward to score the opener, but National Bank’s defenders stood their ground.
In the 51st minute, we were able to find the net, thanks to a brilliant finish from our veteran, Walid Soliman. Ramy Rabia dribbled with the ball to the midfield and then sent a good pass to Soliman.
With a magical touch, Soliman received the ball and with a staggering finish, he chipped the ball over the goalkeeper to break the deadlock gifting us a 1-0 lead.
National Bank were close to equalizing the score, but Hamza Alaa managed to block the ball and kept his net clean.
Pitso Mosimane, Al Ahly’s head coach, used his bench for the first time in the game as Ahmed Ashraf joined the game instead of Mohamed Fakhry.
Mosimane then made another two substitutions, as Mohamed Ashraf and Raafat Khalil joined the pitch instead of Walid Soliman and Mahmoud Wahid.
Once again Alaa was needed to save his net again, as he deflected Osama Faisal’s shot away to a corner kick.
In the 82nd minute, Mido Nabil and Saleh Nasr joined the game instead of Ziad Tarek and Ahmed Gharib.
One minute later, the National Bank had a scoring chance, as the opponent’s player shot hit the woodwork. However, the opponent's player took the ball and was awarded a penalty after having a late challenge with Karim Fouad. Mohamed Helal managed to equalize the score from the spot.
The last five minutes of the game witnessed great pressure from the opponent, as they were trying to score the winner, but our defenders managed to block all their attempts.
In the 91st minute, Salah Nasr tried his luck and fired a strong header that nearly missed the net and went to a goal kick.
The final minutes of the game went by with our players trying to score the winning goal, however, all our attempts were blocked until the referee blew his final whistle to announce a 1-1 draw.
