Ahly and Zamalek, Cairo’s crosstown rivals whose derbies are legendary and extremely popular throughout Africa and the Arab world, had reached the final after winning their respective semi-final matches on Sunday.
Zamalek had reached the final of the Egyptian Super Cup after beating Pyramids, clinching the first spot in the final following a dramatic 5-4 victory in a penalty shootout after a 1-1 draw in regular time.
Ibrahim Adel broke the deadlock in the 14th minute while Zamalek’s Tunisian striker Seif Jaziri equalised five minutes before halftime.
Zamalek converted all five of their penalties while Mustafa Fathi’s shot was parried away by goalkeeper Mohamed Awwad.
Later on Sunday, Ahli edged Ceramica Cleopatra 2-1 to set up the derby clash with Zamalek.
Taher Mohamed netted twice, the first after only 11 seconds, and South African striker Fagrie Lakay marked his debut for Ceramica by scoring just before halftime to make it 1-1.
But Taher gave Ahly the lead again with a superb close-range finish in the 54th minute.
Last month, Zamalek beat Ahly in the CAF Super Cup in a dramatic 4-3 penalty shootout victory following a 1-1 draw at the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh.
Zamalek are participating in the Egyptian Super Cup after the Cairo giants received an invitation from the Egyptian Football Association (EFA) to play in the four-team mini-tournament.
The Cairo giants joined domestic league champions Ahly, Egypt Cup winners Pyramids FC, and League Cup winners Ceramica Cleopatra in the competition.
Last year, the Egyptian Football Association introduced a new format for the tournament, expanding the participation to four clubs instead of the traditional two.
On Sunday, two of Zamalek’s players had reportedly been involved in an altercation with security officials.
The Zamalek row started when Mustafa Shalabi and Nabil Emad, better known as Dunga, were involved in a dispute with officers at the stadium following Zamalek’s penalty shootout victory over Pyramids on Sunday.
It was not clear who started the altercation or why.
* A version of this article appears in print in the 24 October, 2024 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly
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