The depleted team mounted an onslaught throughout, wasted a penalty, had a goal disallowed at the death and whipped in numerous crosses from both flanks but could not find a decisive winner.

Relegation-threatened Contractors put 10 men behind the ball and defended doggedly as they seek to retain their chances of remaining in the top flight.

The draw leaves Ahly with a mountain to climb if they are to keep alive their hopes of catching leading duo Pyramids FC and Zamalek.

They lie third in the table on 55 points, four behind Pyramids and eight adrift of leaders Zamalek, who both played a game more with seven rounds remaining.

Contractors are third from bottom with 25 points, just one off the safety zone.

Injury problems

Ahly's mounting injury problems took a turn for the worse when wingers Ahmed Abdel-Kader and Salah Mohsen were forced off in the first 10 minutes, forcing coach Ricardo Soares to make a couple of unscripted substitutions.

Contractors had the first chance when a bouncing header from Ahmed El-Sheemi was tipped over by keeper Mohamed El-Shennawi but Ahly quickly assumed control to lay siege to the hosts' area.

Ahly's pressure yielded a penalty on 29 minutes when substitute Hossam Hassan was pulled down as he tried to control a pass with his back to goal.

However, spot-kick specialist Ali Maaloul had his effort saved by ex-Ahly keeper Mahmoud Aboul-Saoud, who dived the right way.

The Tunisian left-back could have made amends shortly after when his low cross found Hassan at the far post but the sliding striker's effort somehow missed an open net.

Ahly remained in total control after the break and were unlucky not to break the deadlock on 49 minutes when a header from midfielder Hamdi Fathi came back off the crossbar.

They thought they had finally netted a precious winner with three minutes remaining after Hassan headed home following a goalkeeping blunder, but his effort was ruled out for offside on defender Rami Rabia, who was deemed to have interfered in play.  

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