Pyramids FC are in a familiar position as they are once again steadily losing any hope of breaking the stranglehold on the top-2 spots in the Egyptian Premier League established by traditional giants Al Ahly and Zamalek. The Cairo-based side suffered a devastating blow on Tuesday with a decisive 0-3 home defeat to upstarts Smouha SC, who move above El Masry into third place on goal differential for the time being.
It was about as worse a start as possibly imagined for Pyramids. Egyptian national team defender Ali Gabr failed to control a pass and gave the ball away to the opportunistic Ahmed Abdel-Kader, who rounded keeper Sherif Ekramy and finished into an empty net to open the scoring with only three minutes gone. The match was entertaining with ample opportunities for both sides as Pyramids attempted to open the match up to find a response. Islam Issa came close to equalizing before the 30 minute mark with a sneaky run into the Smouha box but his finishing failed him, sending a shot over the bar in the end.
Sure enough, Smouha made Pyramids pay for their maverick attacking methods just before halftime to deal a devastating blow going into the break. Moroccan midfielder Abdelkadir El Ouadi slipped Mostafa Fathi in behind the Pyramids defense and the player on loan from Zamalek made no mistake in scooping his finish over the onrushing Ekramy for his 10th goal of the season. The humiliation was completed soon after halftime in the 52nd minute when Abdel-Kader dribbled in from the corner of the Pyramids penalty area and curled a beauty of a shot beyond Ekramy to make it a three-goal lead. The match was already well decided by the time Pyramids defender Abdallah Bakri collected a straight red card in the 79th minute.
Highlights of the match are below.
