It is a fair result, Lasarte

CAIRO – 01 April 2019: Al-Ahly manager, Martin Lasarte, believes that the goalless draw at Cairo Derby was a fair result for Al-Ahly and Zamalek especially with the pitch condition.

“The pitch condition affected our performance. We were the better side at the first half but at the second half they improved so it is a fair result.” Lasarte said after the game.

The game was played in difficult weather conditions as the rain started on Saturday morning and never stopped during the game which affected the pitch condition and did not allow both teams to show their expected performance.

Lasarte added “ We wanted to achieve the three points but we will keep fighting. Two months ago, we were 14 points behind Zamalek and now the gap closed to two points.”

Lasarte started the game with 4-3-3 formation and he gave the chance to the team captain, Hossam Ashour, to start in the midfield beside Amr El Solia.

Ashour and El Solia’s defensive abilities granted the team wingers, Ramadan Sobhy and Junior Ajayi, the chance to cause problems for Zamalek defense and Al-Ahly had two clear chances to score but Zamalek goalkeeper, Mahmoud Genesh, saved all Al-Ahly attempts.

On the other hand, Zamalek missed Hamdi Naguez and Mahmoud Alaa who failed to recover before the game and Zamalek manager, Christian Gross, replaced them with Mohamed Abdel Ghany and Hazem Imam.

The pitch condition made the mission harder for both teams and their strikers failed to create many chances to score and the game ended 0-0.

Zamalek are still leading the League table with two points ahead of the defending champions, Al-Ahly.