Defender Ahmed Al-Sayed grabbed the lead early in the first half before Mohamed Abou-Treika's penalty in the second period sealed the victory for the Egyptian champions.

Ahli are on top of the Egyptian League table with 63 points, a win or a draw against arch-rivals Zamalek, who are second on 55 points, in the Cairo derby on Sunday will hand Ahli their second successive title.

Al-Sayed needed just four minutes to put the hosts in front after he connected with Abou-Treika's corner kick to head home.

10 minutes later, Al-Sayed moved down the right flank before providing a neat low cross to Abou-Treika inside the area but the Egyptian international's effort went poorly wide.

Former Tersana playmaker Abou-Treika extended the lead three minutes after the re-start through a penalty kick after Emad Al-Nahhas was brought down inside the area.

Elsewhere, Mahmoud Mahmoud scored to help Zamalek grab a 1-0 victory over Enppi.

The defender scored what proved to be the winner late in the first half to keep Zamalek's slim hopes of catching leaders Ahli.

Enppi striker Magdi Abdul-Aaty almost broke the deadlock in the first minute as he went face to face with Zamalek keeper Mohamed Abdul-Monsef, who successfully blocked Abdul-Aaty's shot.

Unmarked Mahmoud snatched the lead for Zamalek five minutes before the break after he headed Tarek Al-Sayed's long-range free kick into the back of the net.

Substitute Alaa Abdul-Ghani wasted an opportunity to add the second in the 69th minute after his close-range shot hit the crossbar.

In other matches, Al-Gaish beat Suez Cement 3-1, Aluminum edged Koroum 2-1, Masri defeated Titian 1-0 and Ismaili cruised past Asyut Cement 4-3.