Ahly secured a 1-0 Egyptian league victory over Wadi Degla at Cairo Stadium on Tuesday, thanks to a Walid Azaro strike that made him the highest scoring foreigner in a single season in the competition's history.

Sliding the ball past the Degla keeper in what eventually proved to be the winning goal, Azaro took his tally to 18 goals this season, beating the 17-goal record of Ahly's former Angolan striker Flavio and former Ismaily man John Utaka of Nigeria.

Utaka set his record in the 2000-01 season while Flavio achieved the same tally in 2006-07. 

With only three matches remaining before the end of the season, recently-crowned champions Ahly are on top with 82 points, a massive 22 ahead of second-placed Ismaily who played a game less.

Azaro hits first-half winner

Ahly keeper Ali Lotfi, whom manager Hossam El-Badry opted to start with, was called into action after 15 minutes when he denied El-Sayed Salem's strike from outside the area.

With Degla manager Tarek El-Ashri electing to defend from inside his own half, Ahly were the side in possession – which they eventually managed to translate into goals after 28 minutes.

With defender Patrick Malo clearly the culprit after slipping on the ground to allow Azaro through on goal unopposed, the Moroccan striker eventually beat the keeper with a sliding finish to give his side the lead.

After the break Degla keeper Khaled Walid was forced into two saves in quick succession, thwarting a strike from midfielder Hesham Mohamed before blocking Azaro's header on the rebound.

Ahly could have made it 2-0 late in the game when a counter featuring three forwards against a single Degla defender ended up for nothing, as the hosts came up 1-0 winners.  

(For more sports news and updates, follow Ahram Online Sports on Twitter at @AO_Sports and on Facebook at AhramOnlineSports.)