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