Ahly were held to 1-1 draw by Ismaily in a delayed Egyptian league game at Alexandria's Borg El-Arab stadium to lose two precious points in their race for the domestic league title.

Moroccan striker Walid Azaro scored for Ahly in the 74 th minutes of the game while Ismaily's forward Karim Bambo leveled the score six minutes from time.

Ahly kept their place on the top of the league table with 74 points, five points ahead of second-placed Pyramids who defeated Nogoom 2-0 similar on the day.

Zamalek remain third with 66 points but they have three matches on hands. They will have now the chance to climb to the league summit if they won their three delayed games.

Ismaily threatened Ahly quickly as midfielder Mahmoud Abdel-Atti squandered a golden chance in the 8th minutes of the game when his close-range shot from the left flank was denied by Ahly's Keeper Ahmed El-Shennawi.

Forward Mohamed Sadek received a nice pass from Mahmoud Abdel-Atti to ease past Ahly's defender Yasser Ibrahim but El-Shennawi rescued his side again in the 20 th minutes.

Mahmoud Abdel-Atti squandered another chance in the 31 st minutes but he failed to control the ball, giving Ahly's keeper the chance to collect the ball.

Ahly's first threat came in the 40 th minute when forward Walid Soliman eased-past his challenger but his nice shot from outside the area went over the bar.

Just before the break Ahly were close on scoring but Ramdan Sobhi powerful shot was blocked by Ismaily's international midfielder Baher El-Mohamadi.

The second half was boring in its start as Ahly players appeared incapable to make a real threat for Ismaily's defense.

Ahly made a double substitution in the 70 th minute as Angolan winger Geraldo replaced Hossam Ashour and Saleh Gomaa replaced Hussein El-Shahat.

Gomaa needed only four minutes to send a nice long cross that made Walid Azaro to score easily with a nice header.

After the goal Ahly opted for defense and coach Martin Lasarte introduced defensive midfielder Ahmed Fathi at the expense of winger Walid Soliman.

With six minutes remaining Karim Bambo stunned Ahly with a late goal when he received a nice pass from substitute forward Abdel-Rahman Magdi, easing past Ahly's keeper to level the score.

Ahly intensified their attacks during the remaining minutes but they failed to score.

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