Egyptian crosstown and forever bitter rivals Ahly and Zamalek are set for their famous football derby on Friday, 1 May, in a huge encounter that may help determine who will capture the 2025-2026 Egyptian Premier League.
As it stands, after three games with three left, Zamalek are top of the league with 50 points. Pyramids FC are second with 47 points and defending champions Ahly are third with 44 points. Ceramica Cleopatra, with an outside chance, have 43 points.
Pyramids FC take on ENPPI earlier the same day.
A win for Ahly will close the gap between them and frontrunners Zamalek while victory for Zamalek will help them inch closer to corralling their 15th Egyptian Premier League crown that they have not won since the 2021-2022 season.
However, before Friday’s titanic collision, there was Monday which saw a dramatic twist in the standings. Zamalek were held by Enppi 0-0, opening a window for Ahly or Pyramids who met later in the day. Pyramids made the most of that opportunity, beating Ahly in a stunner 3-0.
All three goals in 30 June Stadium were scored in the second half following a tepid first which saw Pyramids wanting more to not lose and, consequently, constantly slowing the tempo down, probably in search of a draw and one point.
But Pyramids need not have been so overly concerned because Congolese striker Fiston Mayele scored twice in the 70th and 77th minutes while Karim Hafez added a third with a penalty in stoppage time.
Mayele opened the scoring after Ahly defender Yasser Ibrahim lost the ball with a lazy, wayward pass. The ball went to Mayele who swiveled and shot not a particularly powerful strike from the edge of the area that eluded the outstretched hand of goalkeeper Mustafa Shobeir.
Four minutes later, it looked as though Ahly had equalised through Mahmoud Trezeguet, but the goal was ruled offside against Achraf Bencharki in the build-up.
Mayele doubled Pyramids’ FC lead in the 77th minute, effectively jumping over a prone Ibrahim in midfield before lifting the ball over Shobeir.
German referee Daniel Schlager signaled 10 minutes of added time, during which Hafez converted a penalty after being shoved in the area by Ahly winger Ahmed “Zizo” Sayed.
The final result was shocking and could lead to Ahly not only losing the title but not even competing in next season’s African Champions League which they have won a record 12 times.
For Pyramids, meanwhile, they kept their hopes alive of winning a maiden league title by taking down Ahly twice this season, beating the reigning champions in the first round 2-0.
Just an hour before Ahly met Pyramids, against Enppi in Cairo International Stadium, Zamalek could have gone behind as early as the fourth minute when defender Omar Gaber timed his sliding block of a close-range effort by Aqtay Abdullah to perfection.
Mohamed Hathout had another early Enppi strike thwarted by Zamalek keeper Al-Mahdi Suleiman with his fingertips.
ENPPI menaced again as defender Ahmed Kalusha had a goal from a rebound ruled offside in the 17th minute.
There was no respite for Zamalek from Enppi’s sustained pressure as Hamed Abdullah’s curling effort went above a charging Suleiman but was short-circuited by midfielder Mohamed Shehata’s clearing header.
Zamalek’s first real chance came in stoppage time of the first half when Mahmoud Bentayeg’s shot from the edge of the area was blocked but not caught by Enppi goalkeeper Abdel-Rahman Samir who let the rebound become fair game for any oncoming Zamalek player.
Six minutes into the second half, two successive corners from Abdullah Al-Said to defender Mahmoud “Al-Wensh” Hamdi led to two headers, the first saved by a flying Samir and the second striking the bar.
A glancing header by Zamalek’s Angolan striker Chico Banza from another corner almost sneaked through.
Brazilian winger Juan Alvina Bezerra’s speedy run on the right brought him face to face with Samir but his left foot nudge of the ball just missed.
Zamalek now pressing for the winner, a pass from substitute Nasser Mansi to Al-Said zipped wide.
Mansi then had a go but his shot was parried, and Bezerra failed to control the loose ball.
Mansi missed a glorious opportunity when he could not direct a cross from six yards out from substitute Ahmed Fattouh.
Suleiman then punched out a cross from Marwan Dawoud and quickly re-positioned himself to palm away the danger.
Petroleum side Enppi, who have nothing to play for besides acting as spoilers, had beaten Zamalek 1-0 in March, ending their eight-match winning streak.
The Zamalek-Enppi tie was in marked contrast to the former dramatically beating Pyramids 1-0 on Thursday last week.
Substitute Banza, who came on in the 77th minute, cleverly skipped by his marker Mahmoud Marei on the left flank, leaving him for dead, to beautifully set up Bezerra who had no trouble firing home from close range in the 83rd minute.
Bezerra looked to be offside, and Pyramids coach Krunoslav Jurčić said as much in the post-match press conference, the 56-year-old Croatian showing footage of Zamalek’s winning goal on his phone to journalists, arguing that the strike should have been ruled offside.
But a three-minute VAR review was enough for referee Mohamed Al-Ghazi to signal the efficacy of the goal, much to the delight of Zamalek’s boisterous fans who filled a good part of Cairo Stadium.
* A version of this article appears in print in the 30 April, 2026 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly
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