Benin striker Razak Omotoyossi notched up his maiden Zamalek goal but the club failed to claim a fourth successive Egyptian Premier League victory following a 1-1 draw with Petrojet in Suez on Tuesday.

Omotoyossi, who joined Zamalek last September, broke the deadlock midway through the first half but Petrojet striker Marwan Mohsen secured a share of spoils with a second-half goal.

Petrojet played the last 12 minutes with ten men after midfielder Ahmed Shaaban was sent off for a second bookable offence but Zamalek could not capitalize on their numerical advantage to miss out on the chance of moving third in the league table.

Zamalek, who last won the premier domestic competition in 2004, are fourth with 20 points, five behind leaders Harras El-Hodoud who played a game more. Petrojet lie 12th in the 19-team table on 10 points.

El-Sayed heroics

Petrojet piled on pressure in the early stages and could have gone ahead seconds into the game but were denied by a powerful save from Zamalek’s in-form goalkeeper Abdel-Wahed El-Sayed.

Zamalek then took control, thanks to the lively work of Mohamed Abdel-Shafy, who returned from injury, and Sabri Rahil down the left flank.

They combined to help Omotoyossi open his Zamalek account and give the visitors the lead after 22 minutes.

Abdel-Shafi held off his challenger, ran onto a deft pass from Rahil before pulling the ball back to Omotoyossi, who beat Petrojet keeper El-Mahdi Soliman at the near post with a precise low shot.

However, with Zamalek’s central defensive pair Salah Soliman and Hani Saied once again failing to impress, they left gaps at the back which Petrojet exposed on several occasions to lay siege to their opponents’ area

The timely interceptions of El-Sayed, Zamalek’s undisputed number one custodian, helped Zamalek keep their lead intact going into halftime.

In the 30th minute, Islam Fouad ran down the right flank before feeding the unmarked Kamal Ali but El-Sayed rushed out to block his close-range effort.

Slack defending

Zamalek paid for their slack defending when Petrojet leveled the score in the 59th minute after Egypt’s U-23 striker Mohsen finished off a flowing move.

Left-back Osama Mohamed latched onto a defense-splitting pass down the left before sending in a low cross to the onrushing Mohsen, who ghosted behind two markers to sweep the ball home from inside the area.

Mohsen could have put Petrojet in front five minutes past the hour mark but his free header following a corner hit the side netting.

Zamalek coach Hassan Shehata introduced veteran midfielder Ahmed Hassan and striker Ahmed Hossam “Mido” but neither could make the difference in the latter stages.

Petrojet, who are coached by Zamalek icon Taha Basri, made light of the dismissal of Shaaban to share honours with the White Knights.

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