Ahmed Sherif Sends Zamalek Past Asyut Petrol

Match overview

Zamalek left Mubarak Stadium with a 1-0 victory over Asyut Petrol in round seven of the Egyptian Premier League. The difference came in the 26th minute, when Ahmed Sherif scored with his right foot. It was the only goal of a match in which the visitors had more of the ball, more attempts and more shots on target, but were made to work for a narrow result.

The opening phase contained an important review. Asyut Petrol’s Ibrahim Abbas was initially shown a red card in the 15th minute, before the decision was overturned following a VAR review two minutes later. Abbas was then booked in the 18th minute.

The decisive moment

Zamalek’s breakthrough arrived shortly afterwards. Ahmed Sherif finished with his right foot in the 26th minute to make it 1-0, a scoreline that remained unchanged through the second half.

Sherif was replaced by Hossam Ashraf in the 63rd minute, while Zamalek also introduced Abdallah El Said at the same time. Earlier, Mohamed Farag had come on for Mahmoud Gehad in the 38th minute. Oday Dabbagh and Mohamed Ismail were introduced in the 79th minute, replacing Ahmed Esho and Omar Gaber respectively.

Zamalek’s statistical edge

The numbers underline Zamalek’s territorial advantage. They had 62% possession to Asyut Petrol’s 38%, completed 407 passes from 480 attempts and recorded an 85% pass-completion rate. Asyut Petrol completed 206 of 283 passes, at 73%.

Zamalek registered 15 shots, including six on target, compared with 12 attempts and two on target for the home side. They also created two big chances, missing one, while Asyut Petrol did not create a big chance. The visitors led 6-4 on corners, 110-97 in attacks and 64-54 in dangerous attacks.

The home side nevertheless produced moments of threat. Asyut Petrol hit the woodwork once, won 47 duels to Zamalek’s 37 and completed nine successful dribbles, compared with five for the visitors. Their goalkeeper Amgad Youssef made five saves and was named Player of the Match with a rating of 7.46.

A clean-sheet finish

Zamalek held their lead through the second half despite Asyut Petrol’s four substitutions, including a triple change in the 68th minute. Fathy Gamal had entered in the 59th minute, while Bakr Fawzi, Ahmed Khaled and Mostafa Sadafa were introduced later. Karim Kamel replaced Ahmed Khaled in the 81st minute.

Mohamed Awad made one save for Zamalek, who finished with the clean sheet. Mostafa El Zenary received the visitors’ only yellow card in the 28th minute. Asyut Petrol collected two bookings, with Abdelrahman Medhat cautioned in the 53rd minute in addition to Abbas’s first-half yellow.

It was a controlled away result for Zamalek: one first-half goal, sustained possession and a stronger shot profile proved sufficient, while Asyut Petrol’s resistance kept the margin to a single goal.