Khaled Galal questions timing of Ghazl El Mahalla’s Egypt Cup defeat by Al Ittihad Alexandria

Khaled Galal has questioned why Ghazl El Mahalla were required to play their Egypt Cup tie against Al Ittihad Alexandria only three days after their previous match.

Al Ittihad Alexandria reached the last 16 by beating Ghazl El Mahalla 2-1 in a dramatic final 15 minutes. John Ebuka scored twice in the 75th and 80th minutes, with his first goal coming from the penalty spot, before Rashad Arafaoui pulled one back for Ghazl El Mahalla in the 85th minute.

Ghazl El Mahalla defender Abdel Rahman Rashdan was sent off in the 90th minute.

Speaking to On Sport, manager Galal said: “Hard luck to Ghazl El Mahalla, and congratulations to Al Ittihad Alexandria on qualifying. But we suffered because of the short time available before today’s match.”

“I still do not understand why the game had to be played so quickly, only three days after the previous match, even though we had 25 days of rest,” he added.

Galal said Al Ittihad Alexandria had been given an additional day to recover, while Ghazl El Mahalla had also faced a four-hour journey back from Alexandria before preparing for the cup tie.

“We travelled from Alexandria for four hours, and two days later played an important cup match,” he said. “This was not the Egypt Capital Cup, where there would be an opportunity to play more than one match.”

He added that Ghazl El Mahalla would now have 22 days without a match.

“We are now getting 22 days of rest, and we are the only team that played after such a short period,” Galal said. “I hope someone from the Egyptian Football Association explains the reasons to us.”

The manager also revealed that he had been forced to rotate his squad because of the demanding schedule.

“I had to make changes in some positions because of the short turnaround,” he said. “It was an evenly contested match, but Al Ittihad Alexandria did well to take advantage of their chances.”

Galal also addressed the penalty awarded to Al Ittihad Alexandria. “Moaz Abdel Salam told me that he did not touch the Al Ittihad player and that there was no penalty,” he said. “To be honest, I did not see the incident, so I do not know whether the decision was correct or not.”

The victory ended Al Ittihad Alexandria’s run of early Egypt Cup exits in the round of 32 over the past three years. In the 2024 edition, they were eliminated by Abu Qir Fertilizers after losing on penalties, while they suffered the same fate in 2025 against Team FC.

In the previous edition, Al Ittihad Alexandria were knocked out by Ismaily’s El Kahraba, losing 1-0.

Al Ittihad Alexandria will face the winner of El Gouna’s match against Police Union in the last 16.