Al Ahly taste first defeat under Jess Thorup

Al Ahly suffered their first loss under Danish coach Jess Thorup, going down 1-0 at home to ENPPI on Friday evening at Al Salam Stadium in Cairo, in the opening round of Group 1 in the Capital of Egypt Cup.

Thorup, who took charge at the start of October and quickly lifted the Egyptian Super Cup against Zamalek, saw his unbeaten start come to an end in a cagey game decided from the spot.

The visitors grabbed the winner in the 29th minute when Mohamed Hamdi converted a penalty after a foul by Mohamed Ashraf Shokry inside the box. Ahly dominated possession for long spells, especially in the first half, but lacked sharpness in the final third and struggled to turn pressure into clear chances.

Geradisch had a good opportunity from a cross but failed to make it count, and early in the second half Ahmed Reda thought he had equalised, only for the referee Mohamed Ma’rouf to rule the goal out for offside against Aliou Dieng.

ENPPI almost doubled their lead when Hamdi’s effort crashed against the bar, and even after Ali Mahmoud was sent off in the 80th minute, the petroleum side held on to claim a tough victory and hand Ahly a painful early setback in the new competition.