Holders Ahly continued their irresistible surged towards a second straight Egyptian Premier League title after claiming an easy 1-0 victory over Ittihad in Alexandria on Tuesday.
Midfielder Amr El-Sulaya, who has struggled to establish himself since joining in January 2016 after ending a spell in the United Arab Emirates, scored his first league goal on the stroke of halftime to give Ahly a routine win.
A flowing move was disrupted by the defence before El-Sulaya blasted a loose ball into the roof of the net from the edge of the area as the Red Devils secured their fifth consecutive league victory.
With 11 matches remaining, Ahly maintained a seven-point lead over second-placed Maqassa, who surprisingly proved the only challengers to the mighty Cairo giants after Zamalek, league winners in 2015, faltered to slip to fourth in the table.
Ittihad lie ninth with 30 points from 23 matches.
Ahly dominated the entire match, creating chances at will as Ittihad struggled to defend.
Winger Walid Soliman came close with a superb angled volley that went over the crossbar before El-Sulaya opened the scoring just before the half-time whistle.
Egypt playmaker Abdallah El-Said skipped past three challengers and slipped the ball to winger Ahmed Hamoudi, who was tripped inside the area before El-Sulaya pounced on the loose ball to fire home past the advancing keeper.
Ahly were unlucky not to extend the lead after the break, with El-Said's curling free-kick rattling the woodwork in the 55th minute.
Ittihad's only chance fell to Khaled Kamar, whose breakaway effort was thwarted by keeper Sherif Ekramy as Ahly held on for another win.
