Masr edged past Olympique El-Kanat 2:1 in the fifth round of the Premier League regular season on Wednesday. The hosts took all three points despite playing most of the match with ten men after Mohamed Shawky's early dismissal.
And here's the thing about the opening exchanges — Shawky picked up a yellow card in the fifteenth minute before going off for a second booking just a minute later. Masr had to reshuffle immediately, bringing on Ahmed El Sageery in the twenty-third minute. To be fair, they handled the numerical disadvantage without folding.
Ahmet Atef opened the scoring in the forty-ninth minute, giving the hosts a narrow lead they would eventually hold onto. He was substituted off in the eighty-eighth minute, swapped for Mohamed Ibrahim, a move that suggested the manager wanted fresh legs for the closing stages.
Olympique responded through their own set-piece opportunities. Mawuli Wayo had been booked in the fifty-first minute before being replaced in the fifty-fourth, and by then the visitors were looking for an equaliser. Mohamed Hamdy Zaki converted a penalty in the eighty-third minute to level the scores, but Masr had already felt the pressure and held firm.
Mohamed Hussein scored the winner in the ninety-fourth minute, snatching it at the death after Olympique had pushed for a late point. The goal difference remains tight at this stage of the season, with Masr still four points adrift of their visitors.
The statistics reflected a match where both sides created chances but neither could fully control proceedings. Masr held 53 per cent possession with nine corners and eleven shots — four on target — while Olympique managed one corner and ten attempts, four on target. Both keepers made three saves each.
By then, Masr moved up to fourth place in their mini-table, though they remain in fifteenth overall with four points from four games. Olympique sit tenth with six points from one win and three draws, still unbeaten but unable to break through in Cairo.
