Shokry Naguib and Amr Gamal scored inside the half an hour to hand the Whites their fourth defeat in the past seven games. Zamalek now trail leaders Ahly – who still have two matches to play –  by eight points.

Today's defeat cast a shadow over coach Jesualdo Ferreira's return to Zamalek. Ferreira was sacked in January following a catastrophic run that saw the team win only once in the past seven games.

It wasn’t clear, however, whether he was effectively in charge as he spent the entire game sitting on the bench. In fact, it was his assistant Ossama Nabih who seemed to be the one coaching the game.

Coach Tarek El-Ashry, on the other hand, is leading Pharco’s revival. Pharco have played two games with El-Ashry so far winning both. Since the beginning of his tenure as Pharco's coach at the beginning of this month, El-Ashry was able to lift the team out of the danger zone with 19 points after 17 games.

Early goals

Pharco FC stunned Zamalek after just six minutes when Naguib capitalised on a blunder from defender Hossam Abdel-Meguid to break into the area and tap at the far post.

The Whites pressed forward in an attempt to bounce back into the game but struggled to find their rhythm after that early setback.

Ahmed “Zizo” El-Sayed and Seifeddine Jaziri had a few attempts but nothing to threaten their rivals' keeper.

Though Pharco FC adopted a more cautious approach after the goal, they seemed dangerous on the counter.

Gamal intercepted a long pass and after an exchange of passes with Mahmoud Hamada he fired from outside the box to double his team’s lead just before the half hour mark.

Zamalek were brighter at the start of the second half, pushing Pharco deeper into their own half, but they suffered another blow at the back.

Mostafa El-Zenary had to leave the game with a muscle injury, leaving Ferreira with no other option than to field his fifth choice Karim Tarek.

Zamalek’s first real chance came in the 74th minute when Amr El-Sissy’s effort from close range was denied by the keeper.

Second half substitute Youssef Nabih could have pulled one back three minutes later, but his close range header went inches next to the post.

Zamalek were punished for rushing forward leaving acres of space behind. A brilliant solo effort from substitute winger Seif Teiri saw him ghost past two markers into the area, evade a third, and strike past keeper Mohamed Awad, thus putting the icing on the cake.

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