Smouha end Khaled Bashara Stadium drought with late victory over El Gouna

Smouha secured a dramatic 2-0 victory over El Gouna in the opening match of round seven of the Egyptian Premier League, claiming their first win at Khaled Bashara Stadium since 2020.

Pape Badji and Fady Farid scored the goals for the Blue Wave, who also ended a run of defeats against El Gouna in all competitions dating back to 2022, when the two sides last met in the Egypt Capital Cup.

Smouha had previously failed to win at the stadium during that period, losing three times and drawing twice.

The result was Smouha’s third consecutive victory and lifted them to seventh in the table on 10 points. El Gouna, meanwhile, suffered their fifth straight defeat and remain 19th, with two points.

Smouha controlled much of the first half as they looked for an early breakthrough, but the game remained goalless until after the interval.

El Gouna were reduced to 10 men in the 38th minute when Saber El Chimy was sent off after the referee reviewed an incident using the video assistant referee system. The defender had struck a Smouha player in the face while attempting an overhead kick inside the penalty area.

Smouha finally took the lead in the 82nd minute. Fady Farid delivered a cross into the area, and Senegalese forward Pape Badji met it with an acrobatic overhead kick that sent the ball into the net.

It was Badji’s second successive match with a goal for Smouha and his 10th in the Egyptian Premier League in 46 appearances.

Six minutes later, substitute Fady Farid doubled the visitors’ advantage with a powerful strike that flew into the net.

The goal also took Farid to 50 career goal contributions in the Egyptian Premier League.