Fayoum won 3-1 over Asyut Petroleum in the ninth round of the Egyptian Second Division - Group A

Sunday, the 15th of December 2019, 14:30 local time (12:30 UTC), Alassiouty Sports Complex, Fayoum, Egypt, the 9th round of the Egyptian Second Division - Group A.

Fayoum SC gets its third win this season and the second one after the arrival of the new head coach Mohamed Youssef, who clearly succeeded to get the team back on the track, even though there is still much hard work to be done and the team is still in the relegation area.

However, in this game, Fayoum players showed ambition and willingness at a level not known before and scored three goals, which is exactly the same amount of goals they scored in the previous eight rounds. The attack seemed to be the main problem of the team, but hopefully the offensive players start getting more appetite for goals.

 Fayoum (in red) won 3-1 over Asyut Petroleum (in blue). Source: www.koraon.com

The match was not an easy one. Newly-promoted Asyut Petroleum justified their position in the table and played very well, having several good chances. Nevertheless, Fayoum had the upper hand throughout the entire game. Mohamed Refaat was very good on the right side and many dangerous charges started from him. This was also the case when Refaat passed to Amr El Fayoumi deep on the right, he crossed, finding Adham Hassan on the left, whose shot hit the side post and then went in: 1-0 (27').

The visitors responded well, with strong attacks, which eventually paid off. A foul inside the area against one of the Asyut strikers determined the referee to give a penalty to the visitors, transformed by their captain, Ehab Fouad: 1-1 (42').

In the second half, the home side intensified the pressure and missed several opportunities, including a one-on-one chance of Amr El Fayoumi against the goalkeeper. However, the same Amr El Fayoumi found the way to the goal, with a beautiful shot from inside the area: 2-1 (70').

The game changed again, with the visitors looking to equalize. Fayoum counterattacked and in the final minutes the referee gave them a penalty for a foul inside the area. Karim Sayed transformed the penalty: 3-1 (88').

At the end of the game, tension erupted among the visitors, and there were some scenes that should not be seen on a football stadium or anywhere. Hopefully, the Egyptian FA would take the appropriate decisions and apply the deserved sanctions for all those people inclined to violence. It's a pity that a match played fairly, without any problems, would end like that.

Despite this win, Fayoum stay on the 10th place in the table, but they are now just one point away from the teams above the relegation line, including Asyut Petroleum. In the next round, Fayoum will play away at Media, while Asyut Petroleum will play against Telephonat Beni Suef.

Fayoum was surprisingly the only home side that won in this round of the Egyptian Second Division - Group A. The biggest surprise was in Cairo, where the National Bank suffered their first defeat this season in front of Al Minya. The local derby between Telephonat and Beni Suef ended 0-0 but Beni Suef retain their top position. In the lower part of the table, Tahta and Dayrout are losing the contact with the other teams, and their home defeats sent them closer to relegation.

Full results, table and fixtures:

Round 9 (15-16 December 2019)

Telephonat – Beni Suef 0-0

National Bank – Al Minya 0-2

Dayrout – Media 0-2

Shaban Qena – Aluminium 0-0

Fayoum – Asyut Petroleum 3-1

Tahta – Sohag 0-1

Table

1	Beni Suef	9	6	2	1	12-3	20	Promotion to Premier League
2	National Bank	9	5	3	1	11-5	18
3	Shaban Qena	9	5	2	2	7-6	17
4	Aluminium	9	5	1	3	10-5	16
5	Telephonat	9	4	3	2	9-7	15
6	Sohag	9	3	2	4	7-7	11
6	Al Minya	9	3	2	4	7-7	11
8	Asyut Petroleum	9	3	2	4	10-11	11
9	Media	9	2	4	3	9-11	10	Relegation to the Third Division
10	Fayoum	9	3	1	5	6-8	10	Relegation to the Third Division
11	Dayrout	9	1	2	6	8-17	5	Relegation to the Third Division
12	Tahta	9	0	4	5	3-12	4	Relegation to the Third Division

Round 10 (22 December 2019)

Beni Suef – National Bank

Telephonat – Asyut Petroleum

Aluminium – Dayrout

Al Minya – Tahta

Media – Fayoum

Shaban Qena – Sohag