Кока-Кола beat Вади Дегла 2:1 in the Premier League's fourth round on Wednesday. The result means the hosts move off the bottom of the table while Вади Дегла remain in 10th place.
A goal two minutes in gave the hosts an early lead and set the tone. Вади Дегла equalised through Seif Teka in the 53rd minute and for a while it looked like the visitors would take something back to Cairo. Then Mahmoud Mamdouh struck in the 60th minute and that was when the momentum shifted. Mahmoud Hassan El Halawani added a fourth goal in the 65th minute to put the result beyond doubt.
And here's the thing — the statistics tell a different story. Вади Дегла dominated possession at 64 per cent and completed 321 passes compared to 154. They had 10 corners to four and registered five shots on target. But Кока-Кола got their chances counted. Shots accuracy sat at 17 per cent for the hosts and yet they found the net four times. Вади Дегла's accuracy was 42 per cent and they could only manage one goal.
Walid Mostafa picked up a yellow card just before half-time and was replaced in the 58th minute. Seif Teka also went into the book in the 85th minute. There were nine yellow cards between the two sides, which felt like a lot for a game where Кока-Кола never really got going away from home.
The hosts had lost their last two league matches — a 2-0 defeat to Серамика Клеопатра and a 1-1 draw with Эль-Гуна. Вади Дегла had been more consistent with two draws in their previous three games. We had given the visitors the edge at 46 per cent confidence, but the match went the other way and Кока-Кола took advantage of their early start.
Кока-Кола now sit on 4 points from 3 games in 11th place. Вади Дегла remain on 5 points from 3 games and stay in 10th. The gap between them is one point and it could be that kind of season where every game matters.