Masry coach Talaat Youssef has been under fierce criticism as the team failed to grab their first home victory of the season after being held by lowly Smouha to a 1-1 draw on Thursday.

Burkina Faso striker Abdoulaye Cisse was set up by Ahmed Zahran and chipped the ball over the keeper to break the deadlock in the 14th minute.

Cameroonian midfielder Mark Mboua met with Ahmed Hamoudy’s set piece with a glancing header at the far post to score the equalizer at the half-hour mark.

Youssef tried to intensify his attack bringing in Mohamed Khalifa and Abdel-Salam Nagah. Masry took control of the game, but Smouha’s keeper Mohamed El-Arabi made some heroic saves to deny Cisse and Ahmed Fawzi clear-cut chances.

Inspirational playmaker Mahmoud Abdel-Hakim came close to snatching the full points of the game, but his well-placed free kick crashed off the crossbar.

After beating Ghazl El-Mahala in Mahala 3-0, Masry registered three consecutive draws against Talae El-Gaish, El-Entag El-Harby and Smouha to rack up a total of six points.

Wadi Degla also now have six points from three games after returning from Suez with a precious 1-0 victory over Petrojet.

Skipper Ashour El-Taqi scored the winner in the 58th minute while Ahmed Kamal wasted a golden opportunity from Petrojet when his spot kick was denied by the post.

Earlier in the day, ten-man Gouna were held at home by Maqassa. Nigerian striker Minusi Buba put the hosts ahead in the 48th minute to increase his tally of goals to five and go to the top of the scorers’ chart.

Gouna suffered a major blow when defender Chawky El-Saied was shown the red card after preventing Mohamed Ibrahim from going clear on target in the 66th minute.

Ibrahim rewarded his impressive performance, scoring the equalizer in the 77th minute after a brilliant solo effort going through Gouna’s defence and shooting past keeper Mohamed Abdel-Monsef from inside the box.