Egypt Daily News – The Zamalek team was crowned the champion of the African Super Cup for the fifth time in its history, defeating Al Ahly Club in a penalty shootout.
Zamalek won 4-3 on penalties after a 1-1 draw in regular time.
Al-Ahly took the lead with a goal from Wissam Abu Ali in the 42nd minute of the first half, while Nasser Mansi equalized in the 77th minute.
The beginning was quick and lacked caution from both teams, but the real danger didn’t appear at either goal until the sixth minute, when a rocket shot from Wissam Abu Ali was brilliantly saved by Mohamed Awad from a free kick.
Zamalek responded with a shot in the 8th minute from Nasser Maher, but it went past the left post of Mohamed El-Shenawy.
Mohamed Hani suffered an injury in the ninth minute, falling outside the lines to receive treatment, and then later returned to continue playing.
Zamalek was awarded a free kick near Al-Ahly’s penalty area due to a foul by Bintayg. Abdullah El-Said executed it to the head of El-Mathlouthi, who sent it over the net, but the offside flag was raised.
The striker took a powerful shot, but it went well over the crossbar.
Al-Ahly possessed the ball for a long time, while Zamalek started to lean towards defense and rely on counterattacks.
Mohamed Hani fell again in the 16th minute to receive treatment, before leaving the field, and then he fell again in the 24th minute to request a substitution.
Omar Kamal Abdel Wahid was substituted in the 27th minute for Mohamed Hani.
The most dangerous opportunity.
Akram Tawfik wasted the most dangerous chance for Zamalek just one minute after receiving the first yellow card of the match. In the 33rd minute, he broke forward to shoot from the edge of the penalty area, but his left-footed shot was an easy save for goalkeeper Awad.
In the 35th minute, the Libyan referee Moataz Al-Shalmani resorted to VAR to review the moment when Akram was brought down after a challenge from Hamza Al-Mathlouthi.
The referee returned to award a penalty, considering that Al-Mathlouthi had fouled Akram despite the ball being shot towards Awad’s goal, amidst significant protests from the Zamalek players, which led to a stoppage in play for 6 minutes.
From a penalty kick, Wissam Abu Ali scored the first goal for Al Ahly in the 43rd minute.
After the goal, Zamalek intensified their search for an equalizer, with 10 minutes of added time being counted.
Zamalek players demanded a penalty for Donga in stoppage time, following a challenge from Omar Kamal against Donga, but the referee signaled for play to continue.
Al-Shennawi cleared a cross that was heading towards the goal, turning it into a corner kick. The attempts continued without any new developments, ending the first half with Al-Ahly in the lead.
The second half began with a relatively calm performance from Al-Ahli and a pressing effort from Zamalek in search of an equalizing goal.
Mustafa Shalaby took a left-footed shot from a setup by Bintayij that went well over El-Shenawy’s crossbar in the 53rd minute.
Nasser Maher struck a powerful shot just over El-Shenawy’s crossbar in the 57th minute.
Nasser Maher also called for a penalty after a challenge from Mohamed El-Shenawy in the 59th minute, after the Al-Ahly goalkeeper deflected a ball that rebounded off his chest following Zizo’s shot.
Polish player Michalak came on as a substitute for Mustafa Shalaby in the 62nd minute for Zamalek, while Mohamed Magdy Afsha and Tamer Mohamed Tamer replaced Imam Ashour and Percy Tau in the 66th minute.
The pressure from Zamalek continued, met by a defensive stand from Ahly, while counterattack opportunities arose for the Reds that were not utilized optimally.
Gomez substituted Banasr Mansi and Omar Farag for Nasser Maher and Seifeddine Jaziri in the attack in the 76th minute.
Zamalek draws.
Zamalek succeeded in equalizing the score in the 77th minute, with a cross from Omar Gaber and a follow-up from Nasser Mansi.
Zamalek intensified their attack after the goal, and Zizo shot again, but it hit the head of his teammate Nasser Mansi.
Hossam El-Shahat shot in the 82nd minute, but it was in the hands of Awad.
Koller made two substitutions, bringing in Ahmed Nabil Koka and Reda Slim on for Marwan Attia and Hussein El Shahat in the 84th minute, hoping to regain the initiative.
Gomez substituted Kamal and Mohamed Shahat for Omar Gaber and Donja in the 89th minute, while the latter received a yellow card for time-wasting.
Akram Tawfik fell injured after a significant physical effort throughout the match, and he left for treatment in the 92nd minute.
The back-and-forth continued until the whistle of Moataz Al-Shalmani to end the match.
The two teams resorted to penalty kicks, starting with Rami Rabia for Al Ahly, followed by Abdullah El-Said for Zamalek, then Omar Kamal for Al Ahly, and Hamza Mathlouthi for Zamalek.
In the third round, Mohamed Awad saved a penalty from Yahya Attia Allah, while Nasser Mansi scored for Zamalek.
Tahir scored the fourth penalty for Al-Ahly, followed by Hossam Abdel-Majid who scored the fifth.
In the fifth kick for Al-Ahly, Wasak shot and hit the pole.
