Egypt defender Gomaa scored his first goal of the season nine minutes from time to give Ahli a precious win and blow the title race wide open.

The defending champions move to second place on 39 points, closing the gap on Zamalek, who lost at Gouna this week, to a single point.

Ittihad remained rock bottom with 15 points.

Tactical instability

Manuel Jose kept his faith in Sherif Abdul-Fadil in the sweeper role at the expense of Hossam Ghaly, while youngster Ayman Ashraf was preferred to Egypt’s Sayed Moawad at left back.

At the other end, Ittihad coach Mohamed Amer surprisingly left his top scorer Edet Otobong on the bench, starting with the in-form Mohamed Al-Morsi upfront.

Ahli keeper Ahmed Adel was called into action before the sixth minute as he had to parry away a splendid long-range effort from Mahmoud Fathi.

Having nothing to lose in last place, Ittihad didn’t look like an easy prey to the defending champions, who hardly tested goalkeeper Al-Hani Soliman in the first half.

Ahli looked completely out of sorts in the first 45 minutes, with Jose making a number of tactical changes, including the introduction of Amir Sayoud for Ashraf before the break.

The Portuguese tactician moved Ahmed Fathi to left back as playmaker Mohamed Barakat replaced him on the right flank.

At half time, Mauritanian Dominique da Silva replaced lone striker Osama Hosni, who hardly touched the ball during his 45 minutes on the pitch.

Gomaa winner

Ahli came out with all guns blazing after the break and Sayoud’s pace seemed to have refreshed the Reds’ offline attack for a while, but Jose’s men were almost punished by their Ittihad loanee Hani Al-Egeizi on the counter.

Al-Egeizi found himself one-on-one with Adel shortly after the break in a swift counter move, but the Ahli guardian was once again vigilant to block the low shot and keep his sixth straight clean sheet.

Jose made his final substitution on 58 minutes, bringing on Ghaly for Hossam Ashour in midfield, only for Mohamed Shawky to get injured minutes later.

Ahli were virtually playing with a man down as Shawky was barely walking during the last half hour.

The Reds’ day was saved though when Geddo went down inside the area following the slightest of touches from Sayed Farid, prompting referee Gehad Greisha to point to the spot.

For the first time in his career, Gomaa stepped up to take the penalty, sending Soliman the wrong way with a well-taken spot kick.

Right after the goal, Ahli’s midfield problem turned into a real ordeal as Ghaly received his second yellow card in quick succession to leave the injured Shawky alone at the center.

Despite going down consistently, Jose refused to take Shawky off as the league holders were lucky not to get punished by their lowly visitors.