Zamalek have begun their tenure under new head coach José Gomes with a 0-0 draw with Ismaily in Ismailia.
The game witnessed the debuts of Abdallah El-Said, Mohamed Shehata, and Nasser Maher for Zamalek, with the latter coming on from the bench in the second-half.
Zamalek dominated the game from the start and could have scored twice first through Zizo who found himself through on goal, but couldn’t get past Ahmed Adel.
In the 21st minute, Youssef Obama found a loose ball inside the box resulting from a free-kick, but his effort from eight yards out rebounded off the bar.
Ismaily had a penalty shout in the 26th minute when Nader Farag was brought down inside the box by Hamza Mathlouthi, but referee Mohamed Adel ordered the play to go on.
New signing Shehata picked up a yellow card in the 28th minute and was brought off in the 35th minute for Seifedine Jaziri.
The Tunisian striker had a couple of chances to score the winner for Zamalek in the second half; however, the closest one came in the 80th minute when his header from inside the six yards box was parried away by Ahmed Adel.
The draw raises Zamalek’s point tally to 12 as they currently sit 13th in the Egyptian Premier League table, one spot ahead of Ismaily, who have the same number of points from three games extra.