The shocking exit of Ahli in the first round of the Egyptian cup gave hope to every other team in the tournament, Ahmed Morsy reports There will be no repeat of last year's cup triumph because the defending champions are out from the very first round. There were several upsets in round 32 of the Egyptian cup but without a doubt the biggest of them all was the second division team Petroleum Assiout ousting the defending champions Ahli with a historic1-0 victory on Saturday. Petroleum Assiout capped their dominance with a superb 49th minute goal when the right winger Sherif Nawareg outpaced Ahmed Shedid down the flank and swung an inch-perfect cross towards the unwatched Hamdi Seif, who ghosted behind his marker and sent an unstoppable finish home above substitute goalkeeper Amir Abdel-Hamid. The home-side outnumbered the Egyptian league leaders in the second half when midfielder Moataz Eino was sent off after an uncalled for tackle from behind in the 67th minute. Despite the numerical disadvantage, substitute Abdel-Hamid Hassan almost equalised with a floating free-kick in the 70th minute but his attempt rattled the crossbar. The petroleum team put on one of their greatest performances ever, while the five- time African champions did nothing worth mentioning, and barely approached their opponents' penalty spot. Ahli assistant coach Hossam El-Badri blamed the players who were playing and those who were not -- more than half the starting line-up was playing for Egypt on the same day in a friendly. "Their display throughout the match was very poor," El-Badri said of his present players at a press conference. "The absence of almost 70 per cent of our regular first-team members due to international duty or injury also heavily contributed to our surprising defeat." However, El-Badri added, perhaps to soothe the pain, that big surprises are essential features of cup competitions all over the world. Ahli's latest defeat, coming two months after it lost in the final of the African Champions League, in which it too was the defending champion, means the cup will have a new champion. It is also likely to spark a debate as to whether opponents can take advantage of the Cairo giants' current dip in form to win the league title as well. Ahli is currently in first place in the league at the halfway stage, nine points ahead of its nearest challenger. On the other hand, Zamalek eased to a 3-0 home victory over third-division side Ismailia Electricity to progress to the round of 16. Ismailia's resistance lasted for just three minutes as Abdel-Halim Ali opened the scoring with a simple tap-in when a deft through pass released Mustafa Gaafar clear on goal. His effort was parried by Ismailia keeper Ibrahim Kamal into the path of Ali, who notched home into an empty net. Gaafar doubled the lead seven minutes later, thanks to an error by the shaky Kamal after Gaafar latched on to a long ball inside the area before looping over Kamal, who needlessly rushed out in an attempt to gather the ball. Zamalek should have gone further ahead in the 32nd minute but two successive efforts from Ali and Gaafar were denied by the bar. Ali wrapped up the victory 11 minutes after restart when he easily diverted Gaafar's low cross into the back of the net. Ismailia Electricity finished with 10 men after Tarek Abd-Rabou, brother of international midfielder Hosni Abd Rabou, was sent off for a second bookable offense in stoppage time. After Ahli's elimination, Zamalek became the team to beat for the cup, along side Ismaili. Ismaili advanced to round 16 after beating Damiet 2-1. Iraqi forward Mustafa Karim scored in the 50th minute and Abdullah Al-Said four minutes later while Tamer Shaker scored the hosts consolation goal in the 83rd minute. In the quarter-finals, Ismaili will face Petrojet which beat Beni Suef Telecom 1-0 in round 32 on Saturday, Elsewhere, Suez Cement defeated Qanah 2-1 to progress to round 16. In another startling exit from round 32, Military Production ousted first division Spinning Mehalla 4-3 on penalties following a goalless draw. Maliyet Kafr Al-Zayyat had the last laugh when it eliminated another veteran team, Baladyet Al-Mehalla, winning 1-0 in Kafr Al-Zayat on Saturday. No sooner had the round of 32 of the Egyptian cup finished than the 16-team round games start today with four matches, and resumes tomorrow with the same number. Today, Tersana host Ittihad and Suez Cement meet Misri. Enppi clash with giant-killer Petroleum Assiout in addition to Military Production face Aluminium on the same day. Tomorrow, Ismaili plays Petrojet while Al-Geish host the Arab Contractors. In another hard fought match, Telecom Egypt will clash with Haras Al-Hedoud and Zamalek tangles with Maliyet Kafr Al-Zayyat.
