The Cairo side installed the Portuguese tactician for the third time after suffering a string of poor results on all fronts this term.

But Jose couldn't help Ahli get back to winning ways in Saturday's clash as their winless run was extended to two games.

The Egyptian champions won only a couple of league matches out of their last nine.

"I'm a coach, not a magician," Jose told the post-match news conference. "I can't create miracles in just two weeks of work."

Fourth-placed Ahli are six points behind arch-rivals and leaders Zamalek, who were held to a goalless draw by Military Production on Friday.

Meteb's Wasted Chance

Speaking of the MCDR match, Jose lamented Emad Meteb's wasted chance in the second period.

The Egypt hitman made his second competitive debut for Jose's side when he was introduced as a second-half substitute.

But Meteb didn't live up to expectations, wasting a clear-cut scoring opportunity.

"It would have given us a victory but I make allowance for him. He has been out of action for a long time," said Jose.

"In general, the players weren't consistent throughout the match and that's a problem that will take some time to be resolved.

"But I'm happy with the youngsters, including Shehab Ahmed."

Promising starlet Hussein Ghoneim was fielded as a right back and produced an assured display.

"The underachievers might have been affected by their recent international duty (in the Nile Basin tournament)," Jose added.

"They didn't train enough with Ahli. Sherif Abdul-Fadil was also deployed as a sweeper, which is a new position to him."