This image will be automatically disabled when it gets reported by several people.
Ahly coach blames 'atypical circumstances' for first defeat A red card, a controversial penalty and two early injuries were too much to handle for Ahly
Ahly coach Mohamed Youssef praised his players' performance following the team's 2-1 defeat to Arab Contractors in the Egyptian Premier League on Thursday. "The players exerted a huge effort today and despite the atypical circumstances during the game, they kept on pressing until the end," Youssef said after the game. Ahly lost left winger Sabri Rahil and midfielder Ahmed Fathi due to injuries in the opening 15 minutes. Team captain and versatile defender Wael Gomaa was shown the red card just before the hour mark for a tackle on Arab Contractors forward Mohamed Farouk. The foul was penalized with a spot kick, successfully converted by Mohamed Adel. "In my opinion that wasn't a penalty at all," Youssef said, claiming that it happened outside the box but that he didn't want to "talk about refereeing." "We won't cry long the defeat and we will start preparing our next match against Dakhleya in three days," he added. On the other side, Arab Contractors coach Mohamed Radwan said his side's victory came from solid pre-match planning. "We watched Ahly's previous games several times. We put several scenarios and worked on them very carefully over the past days and the players did a great job," Radwan said. "We have a very young team and the players are very passionate and enthusiastic to achieve something for themselves and the club," he concluded. (For more sports news and updates, follow Ahram Online Sports on Twitter at@AO_Sportsand on Facebook atAhramOnlineSports.) http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/93078.aspx
