Egypt's Ahly narrowly floor Totti-less AS Rome in Cairo
Nearly one year after claiming a memorable 1-0 victory over Real Madrid here in Cairo, Egyptian giants Ahly turned on the style to narrowly dismiss mighty Italian outfits 2-1 in a packed stadium on Sunday.
The friendly gala match, held in the Egyptian-Italian day to foster relations between both countries, was attended by a 100,000 capacity crowd at the Cairo International Stadium, and officiated by World Cup controversial referee Gamal El-Ghandour.
The local Reds, coached by Dutchman Jo Bonfrere, shocked even their most ardent fans as they claimed a well-deserved 2-0 lead over their visitors at the break, but were spared an early scare after 8 minutes when the lively Candela saw his 20-yard effort screaming inches off the top right corner of the home goal, 13 minutes before Ibrahim Saiid broke the deadlock from a goalmouth scramble, finding the back of the net in a crowded penalty box following a bad clearance by newly-recruited defender Dellas.
With Guardiola, Emerson and Tomasi lacking flair and fitness in midfield, the home side dictated the game to their counterparts in the remainder of the first-half before aggravating the scoreline one minute from the break, Angolan schemer Evelino beating the Roman keeper who misjudged a well-curled drive from Ahmed Belal, to tap the ball home with quite ease.
Gabriel Batistuta, kept quite throughout the first 45 minutes, saw his sizzling solo run ending with keeper Essam El-Hadary up to his stupendous effort in the dying seconds of the first-half, as the hosts edged their visitors 2-0 at the interval.
Fabio Capello made two substitutions after the restart, as AS Rome showed signs of revival, taking them only three minutes to claim the lone goal of the night, Vincenzo Montella scoring from the blank-point after Batistuta was floored by keeper Essam El-Hadary when going solo goalwards.
The Italian side piled on the pressure over their hosts later on, only to see the vigilant El-Hadary denying them two clear-cut chances from long-range efforts by Candela and Emerson, as Ahly hold on till the end before claiming a memorable friendly victory.