There was no Percy Tau’s place in Al Ahly’s playing squad, which started the Egyptian Premier League with a 1-0 win over Ismaily on Wednesday evening.
Shady Hussein converted Karim Fouad’s cross to score for Al Ahly in the 73rd minute at Borg El Arab Stadium.
TAU AVAILABLE FOR SELECTION
The South African forward Tau was available for selection after training with the main squad following his recovery from a long-term leg injury.
However, Al Ahly coach Marcel Koller had other ideas when naming his playing squad.
The Swiss coach was vindicated with his squad selection as the Reds held on to win the domestic league’s opener.
Al Ahly finished the game with 10 men after Taher Mohamed was shown a red card.
Koller told Al Ahly’s website that he was happy with how the team executed the game plan against Ismaily.
“Ismaily are a strong team and tried to score many times. We prepared very well for the game, and we deserved to win, even if we scored one goal only,” Koller said.
“Every win gives the team great motivation. We missed several chances today but are working on correcting our mistakes. We want to score all the chances and not miss any.”
RESERVED PRAISE
Koller also reserved praise for Fouad after he provided an assist for Hussein.
“Karim is very fast, and we needed his pace to create more chances on the sides. He managed to deliver a good assist tonight,” he said.
It was the third straight win for Koller since replacing Portuguese Ricardo Soares last month.
Soares lost his job barely three months after replacing South African Pitso Mosimane.
Al Ahly have now played three games, including two in the CAF Champions League, scoring five goals and conceding none.
The main challengers for Al Ahly in the domestic league are rivals Zamalek.
Al Ahly are also in the Champions League group stages after eliminating US Monastir 4-0 on aggregate in the first round.
