Smouha president backs Ahmed Abdel Aziz after ‘bottleneck’ win over Talaea El Gaish

Smouha president Mohamed Bilal has backed manager Ahmed Abdel Aziz and ruled out any immediate change to the coaching staff after the club secured their first Egyptian Premier League victory of the season.

Smouha beat Tala’ea El Gaish 1-0 in the opening match of the fifth round, ending a run of 10 league games without a win across the current and previous campaigns.

Bilal described the result as a “bottleneck match” for Smouha and said he had urged the players to approach it like a cup tie.

“Today’s match against Tala’ea El Gaish was a bottleneck for us, and I told the players that we had to win as if it were a cup match,” he told Modern.

“We wanted to enter the international break with four points in our account, and that is what happened.”

Smouha had played four league matches this season and six during the previous campaign without recording a victory. Their run consisted of nine defeats and one draw before the win against Tala’ea El Gaish.

The club president also dismissed suggestions that poor results had led Smouha to consider replacing Abdel Aziz.

“We take our decisions carefully, but we know there are new players and that the average age is young,” Bilal said.

“We have confidence in the coaching staff and their abilities. We did not consider making any change to the coaching staff, especially after what was achieved last season. We will study the problems during the international break to resolve them.”

Bilal said the team’s difficult start had been influenced by its results in the final stage of last season, as well as the continued presence of some of the same players.

“We did not achieve the best results in the final stage of last season, and that affected the team at the beginning of this season, particularly with the players who remained from before,” he added.

The match was settled by Makrona, who scored in the 62nd minute with a well-placed header. It was his first goal since finding the net against Al Ittihad Alexandria on 14 May 2024 during the 2023-2024 season.

The victory lifted Smouha to four points and 16th place in the Egyptian Premier League table. Tala’ea El Gaish remain on seven points in seventh.

Bilal said the club’s target was to finish among the six teams competing for the Egyptian Premier League title in the final stage.

“We hope to be among the six teams competing for the league title in the final stage,” he said.