Former Cape Town City striker Fagrie Lakay kept Pyramids FC’s slim Egyptian Premier League title hopes alive by scoring a double in the 5-1 win over Smouha on Friday evening.
The South African scored his first goal of the game eight minutes to full-time from the penalty spot following a foul by Smouha’s Ahmed Hakam.
The evening ended badly for Smouha, who were reduced to 10 men after Hakam had received marching orders.
The former City forward completed his second goal two minutes into added time, thanks to an assist from Sadiq.
The second-placed Pyramids started the game impressively, going ahead barely after three minutes through Walid El Karti’s cool finish.
Nine minutes later, Smouha responded to draw level after a well-constructed goal from Marwani Hamdi for the two teams to share the spoils at the break.
However, Pyramids extended the lead soon after the restart as Abdallah Said grabbed his brace in the 52 and 73rd minutes to put matters beyond the reach of the visitors.
Thereafter, Lakay hogged the limelight with the quick-fire double that kept Pyramids’ seven-point gap from leaders Zamalek, with each having three games to go.
Zamalek have 75 points, followed by Pyramids on 68 points, then Al Ahly with 63 points, and they have a game in hand but stand no chance of catching up with the leading two teams.
The 25-year-old opened his scoring account for Pyramids in February this year when he bagged a brace in the 2-0 win over Zanaco of Zambia in a CAF Confederation Cup match.
He scored barely two weeks after completing his transfer to the Egyptian side in January 2022.
The South African is the club’s fourth-leading scorer with five league goals, two goals behind Ramadan Sobhi.
Lakay is the second South African currently gracing the fields of Egyptian football after forward Percy Tau, who is on the books of struggling giants Al Ahly.
