A ten-man Zamalek side fought back to turn their trailing into a 2-1 victory on Thursday, even though Hassan dropped marksman Shikabala from the starting line-up.

“I am very happy with this win because it proves that the management was not messing around recently,” the Zamalek boss said.

“We were working hard so that the team appears in its best shape and that’s what happened today.

“With ten men we were the better side and came out victors against one of the best teams in the league.”

Shikabala snub

Hassan explained why he started with the league’s top scorer Shikabala on the bench for the first time this season.

“Shikabala and Hussein Yasser didn’t travel with us to Kuwait (friendly tour) for personal reasons and thus we opted to stick with those who were committed recently,” added the former Egypt striker.

The post-match conference witnessed the presence of skipper Abdul-Wahed Al-Sayed, even though it was Ahmed Samir who wore the armband in his debut appearance.

Abdul-Wahed was stripped of the Zamalek captaincy after falling out with football director Ibrahim Hassan this week.