Substitute Geddo came off the bench to head in the winner for Ahli after a joint-error from Mostafa Kamal and Mohamed Ibrahim gifted the hosts an equalizer to Fouad Salama’s penalty.

Ahli regain second place after closing the gap with leaders Harras Hodoud to five points, but the former have two games in hand. MCDR remain fifth.

The game was preceded by a tribute to late teenager Mohamed Mostafa; a former Ultras Ahlawy member who lost his life during the recent stream of violence that erupted in Cairo.

A message from the ultras stands read: ‘Engineer Mohamed the martyr of freedom’, as the Ahli management - led by Manuel Jose - wore T-shirts depicting Mostafa’s image.

Ekrami save and fortunate equalizer

It was evenly-balanced as the visitors were anything but intimidated by the league holders until they took the lead just before the half-hour mark.

After returning to the starting eleven due to the multiple injuries in Ahli’s backline, the out-of-favor Ahmed Al-Sayed was guilty of conceding a silly penalty when he unnecessarily pulled Hani Saied.

Salama stepped up confidently to send Sherif Ekrami the wrong way for his second in two games against the Reds.

MCDR did not hold back and almost doubled their lead, only for Ekrami to make a crucial save to deny a clear-on-goal Oussou Konan, in what proved to be a major turning point.

As half time was looming, Ahli claimed the equalizer when Walid Soliman’s wicked corner was poorly dealt with by keeper Kamal, who could only hit the back of his hapless teammate Ibrahim for a soft own goal.

Major change by Jose

Jose reshuffled his team at half time by introducing attackers Mohamed Barakat and Geddo for Al-Sayed and Soliman, switching formation from 3-5-2 to 4-4-2.

The alteration paid off as substitute Geddo capped a great spell of dominance from the Reds with a 76th minute header, following a pinpoint cross by Sayed Moawad.

With one minute remaining on the clock, MCDR thought they have grabbed a third straight draw against Ahli when Saied’s freekick beat Ekrami from a tight angle.

But the goal was ruled out for an offside against forward Sameh Adrous, who seemed to be blocking the keeper’s view despite not touching the ball.