Al Ahly Begin Post-Mosimane Era With Big Win

Al Ahly began life without Pitso Mosimane after defeating Eastern Company 4-1 to get their Egypt Premier League title charge back on track.

The Red Devils interim manager Samy Komsan was without several players who were with their national teams during the international break, including Percy Tau who only arrived in Cairo on Wednesday and Malian midfielder Aliou Dieng.

The hosts took the game to El Sharqia in the early stages but they could not yet carve out clear openings to trouble goalkeeper Ahmed Daardor.

 However, Hussein El Shahat eventually broke the deadlock for Al Ahly in the 25th minute with their first attempt at goal after firing a strike into the bottom corner from a through ball by Ramy Rabia. Komsan's charges had their tails up as they were awarded a penalty six minutes later after a foul on Mahmoud Wahid in the box and Taher Mohamed doubled their lead with a clinical spot-kick into the top corner.

The visitors came to life after making a double substitution towards the end of the first stanza as Mohamed Khalifa forced a low save out of shot-stopper Mostafa Shobeir in the bottom corner with a strike from outside the box.

Al Ahly regained their attacking dominance coming from the half-time break as they fashioned chances and Ahmed Abdelkader eventually made it 3-0 just before the hour-mark with low drive from outside the box into the bottom corner.

The Red Devils refreshed their attack with double change in the latter stages as Hossam Hassan and Salah Mohsen both came in for Mohamed Sherif and Abdelkader.

El Sharqia, meanwhile, were still knocking on the door and Firas Ifia eventually pulled a goal back in the last quarter of an hour with a strike in the top corner against the run of play.

As the game opened up, Hassan thought he made it 4-1 for Al Ahly nine minutes before time with a close range finish from a corner but the goal was disallowed by the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) for a foul in the build-up.

However, Walid Soliman eventually made it 4-1 for Komsan's men in stoppage time with a header in the box from Mohsen's cross.

Al Ahly's emphatic win reduced the gap behind leaders Zamalek to just four points in third place, with three games in hand in comparison to the White Knights.