ZED coach Ahmed Samir says side deserved penalty in defeat by Al Ahly

Al Ahly maintained their perfect start to the league season with a 2-0 victory over ZED FC, but ZED general coach Ahmed Samir said his players believed they should have been awarded a penalty during the match.

Achraf Bencharki and Taher Mohamed Taher scored for Al Ahly in the second round of the league, extending their winning run against ZED to six consecutive matches. The result lifted Al Ahly to six points, alongside Al Masry, Pyramids FC and Tala’ea El Gaish.

ZED remain on one point after beginning their campaign with a goalless draw against Wadi Degla.

Speaking at a news conference, Samir congratulated Al Ahly and said the match had reflected the quality of both teams.

“I congratulate Al Ahly. We watched a match worthy of both teams, and matches against Al Ahly or Zamalek are always strong,” he said.

Samir felt ZED had competed well despite the defeat and pointed to missed opportunities at both ends of the pitch.

“We divided the match into several parts and missed a number of chances, including one ball on the goal line. Al Ahly also missed some chances,” he added.

“Two individual errors led to us conceding the goals. We benefited from today’s match and tested a number of players through the substitutions.”

Asked about ZED’s appeal for a penalty, Samir said he had not yet watched the incident himself, but claimed the players on the pitch were convinced the decision should have gone in their favour.

“Regarding the penalty appeal, I have not seen the incident yet, but the players on the pitch confirmed that it was a penalty,” he said.

“The fourth official also told us that the incident had been reviewed by video and that the player’s hand, Achraf Bencharki’s, was in its natural position.”

The ZED coach acknowledged that managers are naturally inclined to believe their own side was the better team, while maintaining that his players had been close to scoring and could improve once the squad was restored to full strength.

“Any coach believes that his team is the best in the world,” he said. “As I said, we missed a clear scoring opportunity, and some people say we should have had a penalty. Things will improve when our squad is complete.”

Samir also explained that ZED had prepared for the campaign with a full training camp in Turkey, but injuries had reduced the number of available players.

“We held a complete training camp in Turkey, but we lost several players because of injuries,” he said. “During January, we will have identified our needs to strengthen the team.”

Al Ahly will face Smouha in their third league match next Thursday, while ZED will play Tala’ea El Gaish next Tuesday at 17:00.