Ahly held by nine-man El-Entag

Ahly’s fine run of form came to an abrupt halt on Wednesday after struggling outfit El-Entag El-Harby, who finished with nine men, held them to a 1-1 draw in the Egyptian Premier League. El-Entag took the lead after 16 minutes, thanks to a controversial goal from central defender Hazem Fathi. Television replays revealed that striker Kwabena Yaro had been in an offside position in the build up. Playmaker Abdallah El-Saied pulled Ahly level ten minutes before the interval, but the Red Devils – who gave a superb display in a 2-1 friendly defeat by German giants Bayern Munich last week – failed to secure their eighth consecutive league win. El-Entag, who gave new coach Mohamed Helmi a winning start, had midfielder Islam Mesbah sent off for a second bookable offence 15 minutes from time. They also had to deal with a stoppage-time dismissal of keeper Nader Saad when they had made all three substitutions, as Helmi was forced to deploy defender Medhat Ramadan between the sticks. Titleholders Ahly remained second in the league table with 27 points, one behind leaders Haras El-Hodoud. El-Entag are still third from bottom with nine points. Early pressure El-Entag surprisingly mounted early pressure, wasting two clear-cut chances to go ahead in the first 13 minutes. Exploiting the gaps in Ahly’s three-man backline, keeper Sherif Ekramy tipped over a free header from El-Entag’s diminutive midfielder Wagih Abdel-Azim before an attempted close-range flick from Kwabena Yaro was too audacious to give his side the lead. However, the burly Ghanaian forward made amends on minute 16 when he set up Fathi for the opener, albeit in controversial fashion. Yaro appeared in an offside position when he connected with a right-wing cross, heading the ball across the six-yard box for Fathi to nod in at the far post. Ahly dominated possession afterwards, piling on pressure and moving the ball around smoothly. El-Entag needed two last-ditch clearances from their defenders to thwart Ahly on two occasions – a Walid Soliman effort and a header from El-Saied in quick succession. Saied equaliser Ahly’s pressure paid dividends in the 35th minute when El-Saied’s right-foot free kick sailed over the wall and past El-Entag’s motionless keeper Saad. The Red Devils kept the upper hand in the second half, but struggled to carve out openings in the early stages. The dismissal of Mesbah with 15 minutes remaining allowed them to lay siege to their opponents’ area, wasting several goal-scoring opportunities in the process. Substitute El-Sayed Hamdi flashed a shot just wide of the post before squandering a golden chance a few moments later. Brazilian Fabio Junior, who also came on in the second half, was unlucky to see his header from a corner strike the bar. Hamdi’s follow-up effort was denied by a superb reflex save from Saad. El-Entag withstood a late onslaught after Saad was sent off to secure a share of the spoils and end a poor run. ahramonline .