After beating Maqassa 3-1 in the first matchday of the Egyptian Premier League, Ahly s assistant coach Sami Komsan has praised the performance of his team s players, promising that it will improve in the coming games.
Defending champions Ahly wasted a flurry of goal-scoring chances but still got the job done in their opening Egyptian Premier League game after beating Maqassa 3-1 in Cairo on Sunday.
"The first games in the league are always very important as all teams have prepared well for the tournament," Komsan said in a post game press conference.
Tunisian left-back Ali Maaloul converted an early penalty to put Ahly in front, but Marwan Hamdi leveled the playing field four minutes before the break via a fortuitous goal.
Ahly spurned a handful of easy chances in a second half they totally dominated, as Maqassa s porous backline left them exposed to wave after wave of attacks.
"Maqassa is a well-organised team and we know them well, so we dominated the game but failed to make use of all scoring chances during the game," Komsan added.
Winger Mahmoud Kahraba missed a sitter on two occasions but made amends to restore Ahly s advantage on the 65-minute mark, with midfielder Amr El-Sulaya ensuring the win with a late volley.
"We didn t reach the performance that we have been targeting, but the players have an excuse as they recently played tough games in the CAF Champions League final and the Egypt Cup trophy,"
"We will return to our ordinary performance, and I promise fans to improve our performance in the coming games," Komsan said.
Ahly, who are eyeing a sixth consecutive league triumph, moved level to three points with Zamalek, Aswan, Ittihad of Alexandria and Ceramica Cleopatra, who all grabbed opening wins.
The Red Devils are set to face Ghazl El-Mahalla on the 2nd matchday of the Egyptian Premier League on Friday.
