A wonder goal by Mohamed Al-Herda, his first in three years, gave Hodoud an early lead, but Ahmed Gaafar equalized for Zamalek before half time.

The equalizing goal was followed by a red card to Zamalek defender Amr Al-Safti, but the ten-man Whites were lifted by a late strike from Ashour Al-Adham.

Zamalek claim their 35th to remain on top, while cup champions Hodoud slip to 12th on 17 points, just two off the relegation zone.

The victory is Zamalek’s first over Hodoud in over three years.

Samir captain

The Zamalek line-up included a number of significant changes, most notably the transfer of the captain’s armband from Abdul-Wahed Al-Sayed to debutant Ahmed Samir, who returned to the club in January.

Mido, another January returnee, was ruled out despite being included in the match squad after Zamalek found out that his registration was not completed on time.

Moreover, Hassan surprised everyone by keeping star man Shikabala on the bench, along with Qatari striker Hussein Yasser, handing youngster Ahmed Kattawi his debut.

Early stunner and late drama

The home side were stunned after just five minutes with an unstoppable belter from Al-Herda, who beat Abdul-Wahed from 40 yards out with a strong contender for goal of the season.

The early goal encouraged Zamalek to venture forward for most of the first half in search for the equalizer, which was scored at a perfect timing despite coming late.

Two minutes before the break, the sturdy Hodoud defense was for once caught napping to give a free Gaafar a lot of time and space to slot home past Ali Farag.

Two minutes later, a moment of controversy saw referee Yasser Abdul-Raouf show Al-Safti his second yellow card for allegedly diving to win a penalty.

Hassan reacted boldly by bringing in Shikabala for the misfiring Abou Kone, moving Samir from right-back to center-half.

First Zamalek goal for Al-Adham

Zamalek were lifted by the momentum of the late goal, rather than being hampered with the red card as the second half saw another spell of dominance for Hassan’s side.

Shikabala provided a huge threat from the right flank and the Hodoud defense didn’t seem solid enough to hold on for long.

Against the run of play, a through-on-goal Ahmed Abdul-Ghani should have restored Hodoud’s lead, but was thwarted by Abdul-Wahed on 75 minutes; a miss that proved to be crucial.

Five minutes later, a cheeky cross from Shikabala was met by Gaafar, who was unlucky to see his header come off the right post.

But the winning goal came within a matter of seconds when Farag came out of his goal to punch the ball straight to Al-Adham, who cleverly lobbed the Hodoud keeper from 30 yards, scoring his first goal for Zamalek.