Ahmed Abdel Aziz, the technical director of Smouha, praised the performance of Marwan Attia, Al Ahly's midfielder, and revealed Al Ahly's attacking ideas.
Smouha lost 1-0 to Al Ahly thanks to a goal by Yasser Ibrahim in the 87th minute.
Speaking via Al Nahar channel, Ahmed Abdel Aziz, Smouha's technical director, said: "Smouha is forced to reduce the team's budget every year, and we released several players last summer."
He added, "The league draw placed us in a difficult position with strong matches at the start of the journey. We played a strong match against El Masry and lost by a goal from a cross, which was similar to the match against Al Ahly."
He continued, "We were good defensively and organizationally, but we were not good offensively against Al Ahly. We are a team that plays on transitions, which requires specific quality and speed."
He revealed, "I explained to the players how we would play against Al Ahly and we studied Al Ahly's attacking ideas. Hicham Ammouta relies on Ahmed Sayed 'Zizo', the number 10, as a playmaker who transforms into a second striker and moves in the spaces between midfield and attack. Also, the reliance on crosses is very clear in Al Ahly's style."
He clarified, "Marwan Attia is a very important player for Al Ahly, and he is responsible for the team's balance. When we closed the spaces in front of them, he appeared to receive the ball and solve the situation; he is distinctive in this aspect."
He went on, "The goal is not the responsibility of a specific player; the whole team lost. Yasser's goal involved a lot of luck, despite the defender's attempts to prevent him from shooting."
He added, "Smouha made a great effort. Al Ahly did not create the expected number of chances and attacking solutions against a team playing in a defensive style. Al Ahly did not have many chances against our goal, and most of the chances were not certain."
He concluded, "Al Ahly's solutions were individual, and the final touch in Al Ahly was not refined."
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With this result, Al Ahly raised their points to 9, equaling Pyramids with the same number of points at the top of the league table.
Smouha remained in 17th place with a single point from a draw and a loss.
Al Ahly broke their curse of the past two seasons of not winning in the first three matches.
Al Ahly won the first round against Sharqia Enppi 3-2, then against Zed 2-0, before securing a clean sheet victory against Smouha.
