Ahly's defender Yasser Ibrahem celebrate his first goal against ceramica Cleopatra. Al-Ahram
Defending champions Ahly have leveled the score with Zamalek at the top of the Egyptian Premier League table after beating Ceramica Cleopatra 4-0 on Saturday.
Yasser Ibrahim, 4, gave Ahly a small lead in the first half, but the Red Devils upped their game in the second to score three more goals by Mohamed Sherif, 53, Tarek Samy 72og, and Mohamed "Afsha" Magdi, 78.
Ceramica had to play for almost 70 minutes with 10 men on the pitch as keeper Amer Amer was sent off midway through the first half.
Ahly’s victory has put them at the top of the table with 64 points, courtesy of a better head-to-head record against Zamalek, while Ceramica Cleopatra are 12th with 33 points.
A red card, 2 goals blocked
The hosts were off to a blistering start, breaking the deadlock after only four minutes. A corner from Ali Maaloul was poorly cleared by Ceramica’s defence and fell into the path of Ibrahim, who powered a header into the back of the net from inside six yards.
Mohamed Sherif scored another goal a few minutes later, following a good combination with Hussein El-Shahat, but the goal was disallowed after VAR check following a handball on Mohamed “Afsha” Magdi in the build up.
It only got worse for Ceramica Cleopatra as keeper Amer Amer was shown a direct red card after rushing out of his area to deny Mohamed Sherif when he was clear on target in the 22nd minute.
Ahly had a second goal disallowed from Rami Rabia after VAR check due to offside.
Kahraba, Hamdi Fathi and Sherif all had some attempts on goal, but they lacked the precision to change the score by break.
Sherif extended his lead in the top scorers race as he scored his 18th goal of the season from the penalty spot in the 53rd minute after Ceramica midfielder Mohamed Ibrahim was judged to have tackled El-Shahat in the area.
He could have made it 3-0 a few seconds later, but his shot was denied by the post.
In his first touch of the game, second-half substitute Junior Ajayi had an attempt that was deflected into the goal by Ceramica defender Tarek Samy.
Afsha put the icing on the cake with a superb curler from outside the box to seal a convincing victory for the Red Devils.
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