Zamalek Fight Back to Snatch Late 1-1 Draw against Al Dakhliya

A last-gasp header from Mohamed Abdel-Ghani secured a 1-1 draw against Dakhleya at Cairo Stadium on Thursday to trail leaders Ahly by five points.

The Zamalek defender rose above his marker in the 95th minute to meet a pinpoint cross from Ahmed ‘Zizo’ Sayed to cancel Dakhleya's lead.

A defensive lapse allowed Dakhleya winger Samir Fekri to put his side ahead in the 25th minute to stun the hosts who were looking to bounce back from their defeat against Aswan on Monday.

The Defending champions slumped to their first defeat in the league on Monday when they lost 2-1 to Aswan before being held at home by the newly promoted side Dakhleya.

Zamalek, who are second with 25 points, risk losing their place if Future FC beat Ceramica Cleopatra on Saturday.

Zamalek were forced to drop international fullback Ahmed Fatouh from the game just a few minutes from the start with reports suggesting that he is suffering from COVID 19 and veteran fullback Mohamed Abdel-Shafi replaced him.

Goalscoring occasions were few in the first half with Dakhleya defender Ahmed Abdel-Nabi clears Hamza Methlouthi shot from the line in the 14th minute.

At the other end, Moemen Atef wasted a similar chance with Zamalek defender Mohamed Abdel-Ghani clearing the bacll from the goal line.

Unmarked winger Samir Fekri scored for Dakhleya in the 25th minute after latching onto a through ball behind the defense to beat the keeper from close range. The goal was initially disallowed for offside but the decision was overturned after VAR Check.

The second half saw Zamalek coach Jesualdo Ferreira introduce Nabil Emad and Winger Mostafa Shalbi in order to up his offensive display but the duo failed to make their presence felt.

In the stroke of the hour-mark Ferreira introduced Tunisian striker Seif Jaziri to help Benin striker Samson Akinyoola who produced a poor performance during the 90 minutes of the game.

Despite their domination in terms of possession Zamalek failed to create any danger and their first threat came in the dying minutes when Dakhleya goal blocked Jaziri ‘s header.

Abdel-Ghani scored the equaliser with a nice header to rescue his side from slumping a second straight loss.