Following the same scenario played out in the English Football Association Community Shield, Ahli clinched the Egyptian Super Cup title with a penalty shoot-out. Ahmed Morsy reports African champions Ahli won their third consecutive Egyptian Super Cup after triumphing over Ismaili 4-2 with a penalty shoot- out breaking a 1-1 tie at full-time at Cairo International Stadium on Thursday. Mohamed Hommos broke the deadlock in the 32nd minute when Sayed Moawad crossed a free kick to Omar Gamal who headed into the path of Hommos for an easy tap-in to give Ismaili the lead. However, it took Ahli only 11 minutes to equalise when Mohamed Abu Treika was fouled in the penalty area and the team captain, Shady Mohamed, successfully converted the spot kick. Without extra time the game directly headed for penalties which Ahli successfully converted to a win with Felisberto Gilberto, Mohamed Abu Treika, Osama Hosni and Shadi Mohamed scoring for Ahli while Mohamed Barakat's kick was blocked. The game witnessed two red cards; the first was for Ismaili's Sayed Moawad in the 86th minute after his harsh tackling against Ahli's Mohamed Barakat while the second was for Wael Gomaa in the 94th minute. "We didn't play a great match. It was a result of the Tunisia's Esperance's defeat in the African champions league," Ahli coach Manuel Jose said in the press conference. "Despite the bad form displayed, the team is capable of regaining its usual style. "Winning a title before the beginning of the new domestic league season is a great thing," he added, referring to the Egyptian League which commenced last Monday. The winning of a fourth Super Cup for Ahli, the Egyptian League and Cup double winners, raised the number of the club's football titles to 102. Although, Taha Basri was recently appointed as Ismaili's new coach following the sacking of France's Patrice Neveu, the task of leading the team against Ahli was left to assistant coach Fawzi Gamal. Emad El-Nahhas, meanwhile, missed the game due to injury, but skipper Shadi Mohamed effectively stepped into his shoes. El-Nahhas's teammates Essam El-Hadari and Islam El-Shater rejoined the squad after overcoming their own injuries, while striker Emad Meteb returned after serving a 10-day club suspension for his protesting a coaching decision to substitute him during the Cairo giants' 3-0 victorious match over Esperance in the African Champions League. Egyptian league runners-up Zamalek were to have played the game but the decision of former coach Henri Michel to withdraw, citing a crowded schedule, paved the way for Ismaili to make their first appearance in the Super Cup since it started six years ago. As it was the eventual winners view that it was only fate which once again put Ismaili in a position to challenge Ahli, the club's players fought hard to ensure their dominance over their rivals, which at the end lead to their winning of the cup. Ahli had defeated Ismaili 2-0 in their last game in the Egyptian Cup semi-final and moved on to win the title after beating Zamalek 4-3. It was just two weeks ago in the Football Association (FA) Community Shield, in a prelude of the events played out in Cairo, that Edwin Van der Sar handed Manchester United a 3-0 penalty win over Chelsea at London's Wembley Stadium. In an amusing clash, Van der Sar produced a hat-trick of penalty saves to bring off United's victory over Chelsea. After finishing the full- time with the 1-1 draw, the match went straight to penalties which favoured United, foreboding Ahli's triumph a fortnight later at Cairo stadium. Following a skilled one-two with Cristiano Ronaldo, Patrice Evra then had time and space at the dead-ball line to pull back and find Ryan Giggs, who successfully finished with control in a crowded penalty area to give United the lead after 35 minutes. On the stroke of half-time the �13.5million summer signing from Lyon, Florent Malouda equalised for the Blues and brought the score level as he latched onto a skillful through ball from Ashley Cole and showed enough strength and speed to out muscle Rio Ferdinand to bravely elbow past Van der Sar before banging into the Dutch goalkeeper and, although injured, finishing superbly with his left foot. Although he returned to the pitch after treatment, Malouda was withdrawn within seven minutes of the second half as he was still struggling following his collision with Van der Sar. Thus, he was substituted by Claudio Pizarro, the former Bayern Munich striker. After a goalless second half, there was a penalty shoot-out which went wrong for Chelsea as Van der Sar saved from Claudio Pizarro, Frank Lampard and Shaun Wright-Phillips to give Wayne Rooney the honour of striking the winning kick following successful conversions from Rio Ferdinand and Michael Carrick. The Blues started with an unfamiliar front-line since the Ivory Coast striker Didier Drogba, captain John Terry and midfielder Claude Makelele were all sidelined due to injury, while forwards Andriy Shevchenko and Salomon Kalou were also missing. "Despite the loss, I think we did very well. We know our limitations but I think we controlled the game and had our chances to score. I don't think the boys deserved to lose on penalties but that is football," said Chelsea coach Jose Mourinho. "At half-time I had four injured players in; Petr Cech, Glen Johnson, Florent Malouda and Shaun Wright-Phillips," he added. "The team had a lot of problems before the game and a lot of problems during, but the answer was very positive." Chelsea beat United on the last occasion the two teams met at Wembley. That, of course, was in last season's Cup final. Hence, the two teams met in the FA Community Shield since Manchester United were the champions of the Premier League in the 2006-07 season while Chelsea won the Football Association Cup trophy. This was the third consecutive appearance for Chelsea in the FA Community Shield, which last year saw Chelsea lose to Liverpool. The win gave Manchester United the 16th Community Shield title which is considered less prestigious than that of the Premier League Cup title. It is an English association football trophy contested in an annual match between the champions of the Premier League and the winners of the Cup and is equivalent to the Super Cups found in many countries. The match is usually played in the week before the start of the following season, and has traditionally been played at Wembley Stadium, although for the past few seasons it has been played at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, Wales, while the former was being rebuilt. The new Wembley held the 2007 final for the first time since 2000. Formerly called the Charity Shield, the Community Shield plays a major role for the FA in its efforts to raise funds for various charities throughout England.
