Egyptian League champions, Ahli kicked off their new campaign with a 2-0 win over newly-promoted side Tanta in the game played in Cairo on Thursday.


Emad Meteb opened the scored for Ahli in the 31st minute, before a second half header from defender Wael Gomaa sealed the win for the Cairo giants.


Ahli started the first half aggressively, putting the Tanta goal under some pressure, with new boy Ahmed Sedik producing a third minute shot that was comfortably saved by the Tanta keeper.
The game's first real threat came in the 25th minute after Sedik released Meteb in the box but the striker's laziness gave the Tanta defense ample time to clear.




Tanta's Ghanaian defender, William Mensah was the star of his team, well marking the Egyptian national striker, Osama Hosni, and never giving him a clear window to score. William Mensah also played one of his best games ever.
Ahli managed to break the deadlock in the 39th minute from a nice move that saw Islam Al-Shater place a pinpoint right wing cross into Meteb's pass and the striker cut ahead of the marking defender to slot a first time ball past the Tanta keeper.




In the second half, the newly promoted side showed some shy attempts to equalize, and in the 62nd minute Shaaban Abdul-Wahed fired a long range shot that needed a tip from Essam Al-Hadary before rattling the cross bar.


Just two minutes later, Al-Hadary produced another good save to deny Tanta scoring from a free kick on the edge of the box.

Substitute striker Rami Rabee wasted a great chance to score his first goal for Ahli, when Sedik set him up in the box, but the newly-signed striker headed way off target in the 66th minute.
Ahli wrapped up the win in the 84th minute when Gomaa rose above the Tanta defense to head Wael Reyad's cross in the back of the Tanta net and handle the champions their first win of the new season.


Final Score: Ahli 2 - 0 Tanta





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