Al Ahly mount late comeback to beat El Sharqia Enppi in first league game under Hussein Ammouta

Al Ahly came from two goals down to beat El Sharqia Enppi 3-2 at Cairo International Stadium and claim their first victory of the Egyptian Premier League season. The dramatic result also marked a winning start for new manager Hussein Ammouta, whose side secured all three points with a late goal.

El Sharqia Enppi took control through goals from Ali Ehab and Mohamed Essam, but Al Ahly responded with strikes from Marwan Attia, Ahmed Sayed “Zizo” and Mohamed Magdy “Afsha”.

The victory was Al Ahly’s second in succession against Enppi after a run of five matches without a win in the fixture across all competitions. It also moved them into the group of leading teams after the opening round.

Al Ahly will face ZED FC next Friday in their second league match of the campaign, while Enppi host Wadi Degla on the same day.

A quiet opening at Cairo International Stadium gave way to a fast-changing contest after the first quarter of an hour. El Sharqia Enppi threatened when Ahmed نبيل “Koka” cleared an opportunity only as far as Ali Ehab, who struck a powerful effort beyond Al Ahly goalkeeper Mostafa Shobeir in the 16th minute.

The visitors were awarded a penalty five minutes later after a foul on Karim Fouad. Mohamed Hamdy failed to take advantage, sending his effort wide of Shobeir’s left-hand post.

El Sharqia Enppi continued to exploit openings in the Al Ahly defence and doubled their lead in the 24th minute. Emad Mayhoub released Mohamed Essam with a through ball and the forward finished one-on-one.

Al Ahly began to apply sustained pressure and reduced the deficit in the 35th minute. Marwan Attia produced a powerful long-range shot that gave goalkeeper Abdel Rahman Samir no chance.

Zizo almost levelled before the interval with a strong low drive, but Samir saved in the 42nd minute. The goalkeeper then comfortably dealt with a header in added time, ensuring the visitors went into the break ahead.

Samir remained influential after half-time, denying Karim Fouad a clear chance in the 59th minute. Ammouta then made a triple change three minutes later, sending on Karim El Debes, Ali Mahmoud and Soufiane Benjeddai in place of Fouad, Koka and Taher Mohamed Taher. Enppi responded with three substitutions of their own two minutes later.

Al Ahly were awarded another penalty in the 68th minute after Achraf Bencharki was judged to have been pushed inside the area. Zizo converted confidently, placing the ball to the right of the El Sharqia Enppi goal to restore parity.

The hosts continued to press for a winner. Hussein El Shahat and Afsha came on for Bencharki and Zizo in the 86th minute, while Ziad Kamal replaced Emad Mayhoub as Mohamed Barakat sought to strengthen his team’s control of midfield.

The decisive moment arrived in the 90th minute. Benjeddai played a clever back-heeled pass into Afsha’s path, allowing him to run through on goal and fire a low finish into the net for Al Ahly’s winning goal and their first three points of the season.