Zamalek threw away a 2-0 lead to suffer a frustrating 3-2 defeat against Masry in an Egyptian league game at Alexandria's Borg El-Arab stadium on Tuesday.

Masry defender Emad Abou Bakr scored an own goal in the first minute, while striker Nasser Mansy doubled the lead for Zamalek 20 minutes later. However, Mohamed "Grendo" Abdel-Latif narrowed the gap in the 25th minute, and defender Eslam Abou Slima leveled the score on the stroke of the hour-mark with a flicked header from a corner kick by Grendo.

Substitute forward Abdou Yehya scored the winner for Masry in the 87th minute to hand the defending champions their sixth defeat of the season so far.

Zamalek remains fifth in the league table with 33 points, 11 points behind leaders Ahly and nine points off second-placed Future FC, making the White Knights' hopes of securing a Champions League spot seem very slim.

The White Knights needed only 13 seconds to earn an early lead, thanks to Masry defender Abou Bakr, who converted Seif Gaafar's cross into his own net. Winter signing Nasser Mansy, who scored a hat-trick in Zamalek's 4-3 win over Al-Merrikh in the Champions League on Friday, found the net again as he scored Zamalek's second goal in the game after an individual effort from Mostafa Shalaby in the 20th minute.

Five minutes later, a defensive lapse from Zamalek's centre-backs allowed Masry's sole forward, Grendo, to slip between three defenders and score from close range. Masry was close to the equalizer, but Eslam Atteya's header missed the target from point-blank just before the break.

In the 60th minute, defender Abou Slima met a corner flicked by Grendo at the far post to level the score. However, Zamalek appeared disjointed during the remaining 30 minutes, failing to create any real chances, while Masry posed a real threat to the Zamalek keeper before substitute forward Abdou Yehya scored the winner three minutes from time, following a naive mistake from the Zamalek defense.

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