Penalty shootouts decided the African Super Cup title for Zamalek, at the expense of its traditional rival, Al-Ahly, after the end of the original time of the match that brought them together at the Kingdom Arena in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, in a positive 1-1 draw.
The Palestinian, Wissam Abu Ali, advanced for Al-Ahly from a penalty kick (44), then substitute Nasser Mansi equalized for Zamalek (77).
Zamalek established a historic knot in front of Al-Ahly that extended over 30 years after it won the first Super Cup title they collected in South Africa, with an unanswered goal in 1994.
The match was technically poor, as caution was present in the first minutes, and Al-Ahly striker Wissam Abu Ali almost broke the boredom by shooting a fixed kick that was blocked by Zamalek goalkeeper Mohamed Awad (6).
Zamalek player Nasser Maher responded with another shot from outside the box that passed near the left post without posing a threat to goalkeeper Mohamed El-Shenawy (8).
Everyone agreed that the match would take an offensive character, but defensive exaggeration returned from both teams, so play was confined to the middle of the field, until the 35th minute came, which witnessed a penalty kick in favor of Al-Ahly, awarded by Libyan referee Abdel Wahed Harbouda, after returning to the VAR technique.
The Zamalek team objected to the match referee’s decision and its players almost withdrew from the field, but in the end, play continued and Wissam Abu Ali was able to translate the game into a goal.
The situation changed in the second half, which witnessed an absolute advantage for the Zamalek players, who went back and forth in search of an equalizer, and Zizou almost did it with a sold-out shot, but goalkeeper Mohamed El-Shenawy put the game away twice.
Nasser Mansi was able to return Zamalek to the Super Cup atmosphere, and he equalized through a defensive lapse, and put the ball he received from Omar Jaber into Al-Ahly’s goal.
Zamalek continued its offensive activity, amidst the astonishment of Al-Ahly fans at the humble state in which the team’s stars appeared, despite the intervention of Swiss coach Marcel Kohler, with four successive substitutions, but they did not improve Al-Ahly’s condition in the second half.
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