March 11 – With late goals from Eman Ashour and Mohamed Afsha, Ah Ahly defeated Zamalek 2-0 to clinch the Egyptian Cup final, staged in Saudi Arabia.
Riyadh played host to the first Egyptian Cup final to be played outside of the African country and Al Ahly went on to claim the trophy for a record 39th time at the Al Waleed Park Stadium.
The match remained goalless until the 84th minute when Ashour found the back of the net from close range before Afsha wrapped up the victory in injury time on the counter. The Cairo giants have won 11 of the last 13 domestic cup competitions, cementing their dominant position in Egypt.
“Zamalek played a great game in the first half and exploited the lack of convergence in our lines, but in the second half we were the better side and deserved the win,” said Al Ahly manager Marcel Koller, who won the domestic title as well as the Champions League among others last season with the club.
“Achieving many titles? I won’t boast; I’ll remain as I am, always thirsty for winning titles. I know that achieving seven titles since my arrival at Ahly is wonderful, but I’ll always remain the same.”
In February, Saudi Arabia’s General Entertainment Authority and the Saudi Arabian Football Federation (SAFF) had announced that the country would stage the final with SAFF president Yasser Al-Misehal stressing the importance of attracting major sporting events to the capital through Riyadh Season, a large entertainment festival.
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