Egyptian Premier League leaders Al Ahly returned to winning ways following the 3-1 loss to rivals Zamalek after the edged El Gouna 1-0 at the Cairo International Stadium in Cairo on Wednesday.

Al Ahly was keen to avoid the same fate as they did against Zamalek where they dominated proceedings but ended up frustrated at the conclusion.

The defending champions bossed the first half having the lion's share of possession but were kept scoreless thanks to El Gouna goalkeeper Islam Tarek who made two saves.

Al Ahly kicked off the second half intent on breaching their opponents’defence but their task was made harder just after the hour mark when midfielder Aliou Dieng was sent off for a second bookable offence.

Nevertheless, the Red Devils continued pressing but were thwarted by the excellent Tarek and some brave last-ditch defending by El Gouna.

However, in the fifth minute of added time, Marwan Mohsen controlled a long clearance by goalkeeper Mohamed El Shenawy in the penalty area and angled in a shot to the right which wrong-footed Tarek, just when it seemed that the game would end in a stalemate.

The win saw Al Ahly move on to 59 points and extend its lead at the top over Pyramids F.C. and Zamalek to 17 points.

In other games, Amr Gamal missed a penalty in added time as El Gaish was held to a dramatic 1-1 draw against Smouha.

After a goalless first half, Smouha took the lead two minutes after the restart through Derrick Nsibambi. El Gaish pushed for an equalizer and thought they had leveled the match but Nasr Mansi's strike three minutes from normal time was ruled out for offside by VAR.

Nevertheless, they pushed on and were rewarded in the seventh minute of added time when Karim Tarek leveled the game.

The drama did not end there as El Gaish was gifted with a penalty with hardly any time to play. However, Gamal, a second-half substitute, missed his spot-kick and the game ended in a tie.

El Gaish remained in 13th place with 22 points while Smouha stayed seventh with 28 points.

The day's other match saw Masr move off the foot of the table following a goalless draw against El Masry at the Cairo Military Academy Stadium in Cairo.

(With input from Egyptian Premier League)