Fayoum won 2-1 over Sohag in the second to last round of this season

Saturday, 26 June 2021, 4 pm local time (2 pm UTC), Alassiouty Sport Resort, Fayoum, Egypt, 29th (second to last) round of the Egyptian Second Division, Group A.

Another great match for Fayoum SC, which plays its eight straight game without losing, eight games which included five wins and three draws since the arrival of Saad Farouk as manager of the team.

The match was more difficult than it seemed, and Sohag had a better first half. Fayoum had a great opportunity to break the deadlock, but Anas Shendy's header slightly missed the target (26'). The visitors took the lead rather unexpectedly, after the "water break": their striker was sandwiched in the box between Ahmed Abd Elhakim and Mahmoud Adel Gomaa and the referee gave a penalty for Sohag (34'). The penalty was transformed by Hassan Mohamed: 0-1 (35'). Immediately after, Sohag could have doubled their advantage, but Fayoum's goalkeeper, Islam Risha, saved (36'). Towards the end of the first half, Fayoum had a couple of chances to equalize, but Sohag remained in the lead at half time.

In the second half, Fayoum controlled the match extensively, and came back in the game to win it. The pressure mounted and eventually Ahmed Hassan scored with a beautiful shot from outside the box: 1-1 (65').

Ahmed Hassan (last to the right) scored a wonderful goal for Fayoum. Source: Fayoum Facebook page

Not long after, a one-two combination between Ahmed Al Qarmouti and Anas Shendy was disrupted by the intervention of a Sohag defender, who unluckily sent the ball into his own goal: 2-1 (71').

In the final minutes of the game, the visitors tried to attack, but they had very few chances, while Fayoum players seemed in control and preserved the score in their favour until the final whistle.

Fayoum: Islam Emad Risha - Islam Carlos (Ahmed Saleh 73'), Mahmoud Kamal "Schmeichel", Ahmed Abd Elhakim, Mahmoud Adel Gomaa (Gaber Gaber 90'+1') - Mahmoud Abd Elsalam Abu "Gresha" (Hussein Khaled 46') - Ahmed El Qarmouti (Abdullah Deka Magdy 87'), Ahmed Hassan (Karim Al Shafei 73'), Anas Muhammad "Shendy" - Ala Al-Din Metwally. Manager: Saad Farouk.

The match was broadcasted by the TV channel Nile Sports.

In the last round, Fayoum will play "away" (probably also at Alassiouty Sport Resort) to Telephonat Beni Suef, a team which is in high danger to be relegated. Sohag will face Media at home.

In the upper part of the table, Eastern Company is not yet mathematically promoted, as they only drew away at Asyut Cement. However, they would need to win in the last round against last classified Tahta, which lost all the last eight consecutive games, so Eastern Company's mission is rather simple. El Minya and Aluminium are just around the corner in case something goes wrong for the Eastern Company in the last round.

In the lower part of the table, nothing is yet settled, except for the relegation of Tahta, which has been already certain for some time. Markaz Shabab Samasta and Asyut Cement will play a decisive match in the last round which might save only one of them, or perhaps none, if both Telephonat and Shaban Moslemen Qena win. In case these two teams remain equal on points, Shaban Moslemen Qena would have the advantage of the head-to-head matches. Markaz Shabab Samasta is the least probable to avoid relegation, because they need to win, and both Telephonat and Shaban Qena to lose.

Full results, table and fixtures:

Round 29 (26 June 2021)

 

Qena – Shaban Qena 1-1

El Minya – M.S. Samasta 4-2

Asyut Cement – Eastern Company 1-1

Tahta – Aluminium 1-3

Beni Suef – Telephonat 2-2

Fayoum – Sohag 2-1

Media – Asyut Petroleum 0-2

Dayrout – KIMA Aswan 0-1

 

Table

 

1	Eastern Company	29	16	8	5	45-29	56	Promotion to the Premier League
2	El Minya	29	14	12	3	37-22	54
3	Aluminium	29	16	6	7	38-23	54
4	Media	29	12	10	7	34-26	46
5	Beni Suef	29	11	10	8	28-26	43
6	Fayoum	29	11	10	8	30-24	43
7	Asyut Petroleum	29	9	13	7	22-19	40
8	Dayrout	29	10	8	11	43-39	38
9	Sohag	29	9	10	10	20-20	37
10	Qena	29	9	8	12	29-32	35
11	KIMA Aswan	29	8	11	10	27-30	35
12	Shaban Qena	29	7	11	11	19-25	32
13	Telephonat	29	7	11	11	23-25	32	Relegation to the Third Division
14	Asyut Cement	29	7	9	13	28-37	30	Relegation to the Third Division
15	M.S. Samasta	29	6	11	12	21-35	29	Relegation to the Third Division
16	Tahta (R)	29	3	6	20	27-59	15	Relegation to the Third Division

 

In case that two or more teams are equal on points, the main ranking criteria are the results of the head-to-head matches.

 

Round 30 (3 July 2021)

 

Aluminium – Beni Suef

M.S. Samasta – Asyut Cement

Shaban Qena – El Minya

Asyut Petroleum – Dayrout

Telephonat – Fayoum

Eastern Company – Tahta

KIMA Aswan – Qena

Sohag – Media

Cusco FC is out of Copa Bicentenario, losing 3-2 to Sporting Cristal in the round of the last 16

Saturday, 19 June 2021, 3 pm local time (8 pm UTC), Miguel Grau Stadium, Callao (neutral ground), Peru, Copa Bicentenario, round of the last 16.

Sporting Cristal, Peruvian champions and winners of the 2021 Stage 1 (Apertura) in the Peruvian First Division, were clear favourites in this game against Cusco FC. The only chance for Cusco FC resided in the fact that some strong teams are not so interested in Copa Bicentenario, and that some key players of Sporting Cristal were either participating at the 2021 Copa América with the Peru national football team or injured.

The first half proved that the initial prognosis was right, as Sporting Cristal dominated clearly and scored twice. First, Calcaterra sent a long ball over the Cusco defense to find Ávila in a perfect position at the edge of the box, who lobbed the ball over over the goalkeeper to make it 1-0 (19'). After other 19 minutes, a cross from the right by Christofer Gonzales hit an unlucky defender, Rossi, and went in for 2-0 (38').

It looked like the game was already decided, but Cusco FC had an unexpected come-back in the second half. In the beginning of the half, a cross from Carranza was transformed into a goal by the other Alfredo, Carrillo: 2-1 (48').

Alfredo Carrillo (in black) scored the first goal for Cusco FC despite the opposition of Gianfranco Chávez. Source: Cusco FC Facebook page

Cusco FC needed another goal and attacked more and more consistently, and their mission was made easier by Jesús Castillo, who was sent off for hitting Alfredo Ramúa (74'). It is however noticeable that Sporting Cristal, down to ten men, had some great opportunities to make it 3-1 and close the game, but Ávila missed some of them, including a shot to the crossbar. Cusco's numerical advantage was only for 15 minutes, as Edson Aubert was also sent off for a second yellow card (89').

Equality in numbers restored, Cusco succeeded to score - something which they seem unable to do when they have one player more in the field. Matías Abisab perfectly executed a long-range free kick: 2-2 (90'+4'), a wonderful goal. The match seemed to be decided at penalties, but a surprisingly quick execution of a free kick by Sporting Cristal players led to a late winning goal, by Nilson Loyola, who benefited from the lack of attention of Cusco's defense to make it 3-2 for Sporting Cristal (90'+8').

Sporting Cristal: Solís - Madrid, Chávez, Merlo, Loyola - C. Gonzales, Calcaterra, Castillo - Grimaldo (Pretell 61'), Riquelme (Marchán 9', A. González 78'), Ávila. Manager: Roberto Mosquera.

Cusco: Nicosia - Rizzo, Figueroa (Rivera 46'), Rossi - Velásquez (Villano 84'), Abisab, Tello (Aubert 46'), Céspedes - Ramúa (E. Gonzales 90'+2'), Carrillo (Rengifo 76'), Carranza. Manager: Claudio Vivas.

Referee: Augusto Menéndez.

Yellow cards: Calcaterra 35', Madrid 54', Merlo 62', C. Gonzales 70' - Aubert 79', 89'.

Red cards: Castillo 74' - Aubert 89' (for a second yellow card).

Due to this defeat, Cusco FC are now on holidays from the point of view of official matches. The next official match would be the first round of Stage 2 (Clausura), in the second half of July. Some good players are needed to join the team, in order to avoid the relegation area where they are right now.

Another 1-1 draw for Fayoum SC, this time away at Asyut Petroleum

Saturday, 19 June 2021, 4 pm local time (2 pm UTC), Asyut Petroleum Stadium, Asyut, Egypt, the 28th round of the Egyptian Second Division, Group A.

 Fayoum SC players and staff before the start of the game. Source: Fayoum Facebook page. Photo: Youssef Hamdy

Asyut Petroleum and Fayoum SC did not have much to gain or to lose in this game, as they are both too far from promotion or relegation troubles.

However, the match started astoundingly, and everything important happened in the first 10 minutes, which is quite unusual. First, Fayoum SC scored by means of Karim Al Shafei, whose shot went in, to the right of the goalkeeper: 0-1 (3').

Karim Al Shafei (player in blue to the right) is congratulated by his teammates. Source: Fayoum Facebook page. Photo: Youssef Hamdy

Asyut Petroleum equalized quickly, after a foul in the box by Ali Abo Elela, who was also sent off. The penalty was transformed by Ali Al-Farraji: 1-1 (10').

Fayoum SC remained in ten men for the rest of the game, so manager Saad Farouk had to use a defensive strategy to maintain the result. The hosts were unable to score another goal, despite attacking and putting a lot of pressure, but Fayoum defense resisted, and even more, the visitors could have scored the winning goal on the counterattack.

The final result, 1-1, is probably a considered a positive one for both sides. Fayoum remains unbeaten since the arrival of Saad Farouk as manager of the team.

In the upper part of the table, Eastern Company and El Minya drew 2-2, which is in favour of Eastern Company. The big surprise was the home defeat of Aluminium, 2-1 to Asyut Cement. Therefore, Eastern Company maintains a 4 point gap in the lead, and are almost mathematically promoted to the Egyptian Premier League. They only need one win in any of the remaining two matches, which would be played against teams in the lower part of the table. In the last round, they will play at home against already relegated Tahta.

In the lower part of the table, the situation is more complicated, but Merkaz Shabab Samasta got only one point in their match and have only mathematical chances of avoiding relegation. Asyut Cement, despite their incredible win over Aluminium, are pretty much in the same situation. There are still two rounds to be played, and anything may happen.

Full results, table and fixtures:

Round 28 (19 June 2021)

 

Asyut Petroleum – Fayoum 1-1

Sohag – Beni Suef 0-0

Telephonat – Tahta 3-1

Aluminium – Asyut Cement 1-2

Eastern Company – El Minya 2-2

M.S. Samasta – Shaban Qena 0-0

Qena – Dayrout 2-1

KIMA Aswan – Media 2-0

 

Table

 

1	Eastern Company	28	16	7	5	44-28	55	Promotion to the Premier League
2	El Minya	28	13	12	3	33-20	51
3	Aluminium	28	15	6	7	35-22	51
4	Media	28	12	10	6	34-24	46
5	Beni Suef	28	11	9	8	26-24	42
6	Fayoum	28	10	10	8	28-23	40
7	Dayrout	28	10	8	10	43-38	38
8	Asyut Petroleum	28	8	13	7	20-19	37
9	Sohag	28	9	10	9	19-18	37
10	Qena	28	9	7	12	28-31	34
11	KIMA Aswan	28	7	11	10	26-30	32
12	Shaban Qena	28	7	10	11	18-24	31
13	Telephonat	28	7	10	11	21-23	31	Relegation to the Third Division
14	Asyut Cement	28	7	8	13	27-36	29	Relegation to the Third Division
15	M.S. Samasta	28	6	11	11	19-31	29	Relegation to the Third Division
16	Tahta (R)	28	3	6	18	25-53	15	Relegation to the Third Division

 

In case that two or more teams are equal on points, the main ranking criteria are the results of the head-to-head matches.

 

Round 29 (26 June 2021)

 

Qena – Shaban Qena

El Minya – M.S. Samasta

Asyut Cement – Eastern Company

Tahta – Aluminium

Beni Suef – Telephonat

Fayoum – Sohag

Media – Asyut Petroleum

Dayrout – KIMA Aswan