Ahly Spanish coach Juan Carlos Garrido believes that his side earned its Monday 3-1 victory over Haras El-Hodoud on day 13 of the Egyptian Premier League because they respected their opponents.

"The technical staff and the players knew the match won't be easy so they respected the opponent and earned the victory," the 45-year-old tactician said in the post-match press conference.

The title holders, who snatched Egypt's first ever Africa Confederation Cup this month, jumped to the fifth place with 20 points and still have four matches in hand, nine behind leaders ENPPI.

"We know how important it is not to lose a single point on our bid to gain the lead and our title," he added.

The coach also commented on Ahmed Abdel-Zaher's goal in which the striker blocked the keeper long shoot with his back to net the ball. ##

"Abdel-Zaher delivered a very fine performance and deserved to score after he pressured the keeper. He really believed he could score this way,"

"We used the empty spaces in Hodoud's formation relying on the speed of Walid Soliman, Mahmoud 'Trezeguet' Hassan and Mousa Yedan so we scored another two," he concluded.

The Cairo giants are playing Wadi Degla Saturday, four days before they take on Ittihad of Alexandria.

Read the full match report here.

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