New head coach of Fayoum SC, Karam Jaber, starts with a 1-0 defeat away at Aluminium

Sunday, the 19th of January 2020, 14:30 local time (12:30 UTC), Aluminium Stadium, Nag Hammâdi, Egypt, the 12th round of the Egyptian Second Division, Group A.

Aluminium is one of the strongest teams in the Group A of the Egyptian Second Division, and their win on Sunday, corroborated with the draws conceded by the National Bank and Beni Suef, took them on the second position, at equal points with leaders National Bank, and just one goal behind in terms of goal difference.

 Aluminium (in blue) and Fayoum (in red) prepared to start the game.

Photo source: www.alastad.com

On the other hand, Fayoum SC still suffers a lot in the relegation area and struggled hard for at least one point but did not succeed to equalize, after Kyrillos Maher scored early for Aluminium, after the initial strong shot by Samir Fawzi was deflected by the goalkeeper: 1-0 (10'). This proved to be the only goal of the match.

The new head coach of Fayoum SC, Karam Jaber, had less than a week to get to know the players and the team, as he replaced Mohamed Youssef on Monday, the 13th of January. Mohamed Youssef left after a dispute with the club management regarding the players he wanted to bring during the transfer period. It is a surprising decision, given the good results Fayoum obtained with Mohamed Youssef. Karam Jaber was head coach of Baladiyet El Mahalla (Group C of the Second Division) in the first rounds of the 2019-2020 season.

It is therefore understandable that he had some issues in coaching Fayoum, especially in front of a strong team like Aluminium, which put a lot of pressure, especially in the first half and at the beginning of the second half. Fayoum defended well and tried to respond on the break, with long balls.

The visitors even took control of the game in the last 15 minutes but were unable to score the equalizer.

Aluminium starting XI: Hossam Sadiq - Mohamed Ahmed, Mohamed Abdel Hafeez, Mostafa Nasser, Mohamed El Sherbiny, Mahmoud Nagah, Ibrahim Majed, Islam Abdel Radi, Samir Fawzy, Mahmoud Ahmed, Kyrillos Maher. Head coach: Yasser Al-Kinani.

Fayoum starting XI: Ahmed Mohamed Al-Beheiri - Jaber Mohamadi, Zakaria Ahmed, Ahmed Saad, Mohamed Abdel Jaber, Adham Hassan, Mohamed Mahmoud, Ahmed Ammar, Ahmed Owais, Ali Ahmed, Ahmed Abdel Baqi. Head coach: Karam Jaber.

Referee: Al-Jaraihi.

In the next round, Aluminium will play away at Al Minya, and they need to win in order to remain at the top of the group. But it is not going to be easy, given that Al Minya has also a good team and is in danger of relegation.

Even more in danger of relegation is Fayoum, which desperately needs to win the next game at home, actually at Alassiouty Sports Resort, against Telephonat Beni Suef. Any other result is a step forward towards relegation. No less than five teams will be relegated this season as a result of the restructuring process proposed by the Egyptian FA at the level of the Second Division, to become a professional league starting in autumn 2020.

Full results, table and fixtures in Group A:

Round 12 (19 January 2020)

Shaban Qena – Beni Suef 0-0

Sohag – Al Minya 1-0

Tahta – Asyut Petroleum 0-2

Telephonat – Dayrout 1-0

National Bank – Media 2-2

Aluminium – Fayoum 1-0

Table

1	National Bank	12	7	4	1	16-7	25	Promotion to Premier League
2	Aluminium	12	8	1	3	15-7	25
3	Beni Suef	12	7	3	2	14-4	24
4	Shaban Qena	12	5	5	2	8-7	20
5	Telephonat	12	5	4	3	12-10	19
6	Asyut Petroleum	12	5	2	5	14-14	17
7	Al Minya	12	4	3	5	10-10	15
8	Sohag	12	4	3	5	9-9	15	Relegation to the Third Division
9	Media	12	3	6	3	14-15	15	Relegation to the Third Division
10	Fayoum	12	4	1	7	11-13	13	Relegation to the Third Division
11	Dayrout	12	1	2	9	11-24	5	Relegation to the Third Division
12	Tahta	12	0	4	8	4-18	4	Relegation to the Third Division

Round 13 (26 January 2020)

Beni Suef – Sohag

Al Minya – Aluminium

Dayrout – National Bank

Asyut Petroleum – Shaban Qena

Media – Tahta

Fayoum – Telephonat