Al Ahly’s Marwan Attia praised after late win over Smouha

Al Ahly midfielder Marwan Attia was described as “very important” to the Egyptian champions after their narrow 1-0 victory over Smouha, whose manager Ahmed Abdel Aziz said his side had successfully limited the number of clear chances created by their opponents.

Yasser Ibrahim scored in the 87th minute to secure the win for Al Ahly, who moved to nine points from their opening three matches of the Egyptian Premier League. They are level on points with Pyramids at the top of the table.

Smouha remain 17th with one point from a draw and a defeat.

Speaking to Al Nahar TV, Abdel Aziz said Smouha had been forced to reduce their budget every year, with several players leaving the club during the summer.

“Smouha are forced to reduce the team’s budget every year, and more than one player was released last summer,” he said.

He also felt the league schedule had made the club’s start particularly demanding, with difficult fixtures placed at the beginning of their campaign.

“The league draw put us in a difficult position with strong matches at the start of the journey. We played a strong game against Al Masry and lost to a goal from a cross, and it was similar to the match against Al Ahly,” added Abdel Aziz.

The Smouha manager said his team had been disciplined without the ball but lacked the attacking quality required to trouble Al Ahly consistently.

“We were good defensively and organisationally, but we were not good offensively against Al Ahly. We are a team that plays on transitions, and that requires a certain level of quality and speed,” he said.

Abdel Aziz explained that his coaching staff had studied Al Ahly’s attacking patterns before the match, including the role of Ahmed Sayed “Zizo”.

“I explained to the players how we would play against Al Ahly and we studied Al Ahly’s attacking ideas. Hussein Ammouta relies on Ahmed Sayed ‘Zizo’ as a number 10 and playmaker, and he turns into a second striker and moves in the spaces between midfield and attack. The reliance on crosses is also very clear in Al Ahly’s style,” he said.

He singled out Marwan Attia for praise, saying the midfielder had helped Al Ahly maintain their shape when Smouha blocked their attacking routes.

“Marwan Attia is very important in Al Ahly. He is responsible for the balance of the team, and when we closed the spaces in front of them, he appeared to receive the ball and solve the situation. He is outstanding in this aspect,” said Abdel Aziz.

The manager declined to blame an individual for Ibrahim’s late goal, insisting the result reflected the efforts of both teams.

“The goal is not the responsibility of one particular player. The whole team lost, and Yasser’s goal involved a great deal of fortune despite the defender’s attempts to prevent him from shooting,” he added.

Abdel Aziz believed Smouha’s defensive approach had restricted Al Ahly’s usual attacking output, while also criticising the hosts’ finishing.

“Smouha made a great effort. Al Ahly did not create the number of chances or attacking solutions expected of them against a team that played defensively. Al Ahly’s chances in front of our goal were not many, and most of them were not clear-cut,” he said.

“Al Ahly’s solutions are individual, and the final touch at Al Ahly was not precise,” he concluded.

The result also ended Al Ahly’s difficulty in winning their opening three matches of the league in the previous two seasons. They began this campaign with a 3-2 victory over Eastern Company Enppi, followed that with a 2-0 win against ZED, and then beat Smouha 1-0.