CAIRO, Nov. 6 (Xinhua) — Al-Ahly beat Zamalek 5-3 on Friday, the highest-scoring Cairo derby ever in the Egyptian Premiere League.

The win at the Cairo International Stadium lifted Al-Ahly to the top of the League with nine points, three points ahead of Zamalek which lost its first match in the 2021-2022 season that kicked off in October.

During Friday’s game that witnessed three penalties, Al-Ahly possessed the ball most of time and opened the scoring with an own goal from Zamalek keeper Mohamed Abou-Gabal in the 25th minute.

Al-Ahly defender Ali Maaloul scored the second from the penalty spot and forward Mohammed Sherif netted from a close range, both in the first half.

Zamalek narrowed the gap in the early minutes of the second half after Mostafa Fathi sent a rocket shot in the net. But Al-Ahly’s Aliou Dieng quickly scored the fourth for Al-Ahly from a long-range curling shot.

In the 65th minute, Maaloul scored his second penalty kick and Al-Ahly’s fifth goal of the game.

After that, Al-Ahly preferred to defend and relied on counterattacks, while Zamalek turned up with more fervor, scoring their second goal on 80 minutes before a third in the 90th minute.

The Cairo derby, also known as the Arab Clasico, does not only bring Egypt to a standstill, but much of the continent of Africa and the Middle East too, with the TV audience in Egypt alone estimated to exceed 50 million.

Al-Ahly and Zamalek were named as the top two African clubs of the 20th Century by Confederation of African Football.