Midfield wizard Shikabala broke the deadlock with a delightful free-kick in the 13th minute before striker Razak Omotoyossi, who bagged a brace against Ittihad last week, doubled his side’s advantage on 37 minutes for his fourth of the season.

Despite playing for most of the game with a man down, Dakhlia managed to reduce arrears through a magnificent solo goal by striker Ahmed Temsah late in the game.

The league debutants had defender Wael Ismail dismissed at the stroke of half time for two bookable offences, as Zamalek midfielder Ibrahim Salah was sent off right after Dakhlia's goal for the same reason.

Winter signings Nour Al-Sayed and Islam Awad made their debut for Hassan Shehata's team a few days after joining from Gouna and ENPPI respectively.

Zamalek retained third place on 29 points, five adrift of leaders Harras Hodoud who extended their winning streak to 11 games earlier on the day, while Dakhlia remain second from bottom on 8 points.

One-sided half

The first half kicked off with the home side piling on pressure from the very beginning as the third minute saw a Shikabala free-kick flow wide of the near post.

The midfield wizard made no mistake on his second attempt ten minutes later with another marvelous set-piece beating the keeper this time at the far post.

Zamalek continued to pose threat on Dakhlia’s goal with Omotoyossi showing glimpses of his talent in the next minutes of the half.

The burly frontman rattled the post with a fierce drive after superbly holding off two challengers but was then rewarded with a scruffy goal when he hit an empty net after a miscued clearance to a Shikabala corner fell into his path.

Late onslaught

Substitute Ahmed Gaafar should have added his name to the scoresheet as he saw a close range shot miss the target, made an acrobatic effort that was easily gathered by the keeper and failed to score after he was sent clear by Al-Sayed.

The visitors’ first genuine threat came from Temsah whose powerful shot from outside the area was parried by keeper Abdul-Wahed Al-Sayed before striking the post for a corner.

Despite the game seemingly ending in favor of the hosts, the last moments were sensational as Shikabala gave away possession cheaply in midfield, with Temsah making a superb solo run from the halfway line to outpace Hani Said before dinking the ball home from a tight angle above Abdul-Wahed.

It was too late for Dakhlia though as Shehata’s men claimed their fourth win on the trot.