Fathallah penalty lifts Zamalek



Zamalek labored to a 1-0 Egyptian Premier League victory over Arab Contractors, thanks to a dubious first-half penalty from defender Mahmoud Fathallah. The Whites' second straight win sent them to fourth place on 11 points, one point adrift of leaders Police Union. Contractors remained second from bottom after suffering their fifth loss in seven games. Shikabala dummy - The hosts thought they had taken the lead on 20 minutes, but Musa Kabiru's strike was ruled out for a deliberate handball by the Nigerian striker. Kabiru was lucky to escape the caution, but was ironically booked before the break for another intentional handball. Contractors keeper Daouda Diakite was equal to Ashour Al-Adham's powerful freekick as Zamalek looked close to breaking the deadlock.The opener came when Shikabala earned a clever penalty for Zamalek after theatrically going down inside the area, following Shamisudeen Tijani's innocuous tackle. In-form Egypt defender Fathallah made no mistake from the spot to score his second goal in as many games. Two minutes later, Abdul-Wahed Al-Sayed justified Hossam Hassan's decision to prefer him to Essam Al-Hadari with an acrobatic save from Mohamed Samara's volley. After the break, Contractors looked relatively courageous but their first league win over Zamalek since 1997 didn’t seem to be on the cards. Fathallah almost put the game to bed with his second of the game, but uncommonly missed a free header from Shikabala's precise freekick cross. Hassan introduced Iraq striker Emad Mohamed who hardly touched the ball for about ten minutes, before forcing a great save from Diakite with a terrific volley. It proved to be the best chance of the half though, as Zamalek secured their second clean sheet of the season.