Lakay on Target As Cleopatra Ease To Victory
South African striker Fagrie Lakay found the back of the net as Ceramica Cleopatra cruised to a comfortable 3-0 victory over Ghazl Al Mahalla in the Egyptian League Cup at Arab Contractors Stadium on Saturday night.
Lakay, who’s on a season-long loan from CAF Champions League quarterfinalists Pyramids FC, has scored five goals and provided five assists in 22 appearances in all competitions so far in the ongoing campaign.
Cleopatra is one point behind group B leaders National Bank, who trashed them 5-0 in their first outing of the league cup back in December 2024. Lakay’s team has three points and is currently in third place after two games in the five-team table, where the top two teams will advance to the quarterfinals.
Up next for Cleopatra, who was promoted to the topflight division in the 2019/20 season, is a tough encounter against 28-time Egyptian Cup winner Zamalek SC in the Egyptian Cup semi-finals at the Cairo International Stadium on Friday, 28 March.
Meanwhile, in the United States of America, South African center-forward Darren Smith was on target for USL Championship outfit Detroit City as they played out to a 2-2 draw with Birmingham Legion FC on the same night.
Despite the draw, Smith’s team is still at the summit of the second-tier standings with seven points accumulated in three matches played. However, they are level on points with second-placed Louisville City as they push for promotion.
The goal saw the 28-year-old continue his rich vein of fine form, making it two goals in just three matches played for the club he joined in January 2025 on a free transfer after ending two years with Finish side FC Inter Turku.
Smith has become a nomadic figure with Detroit marking his 10th club of his professional football career. The Cape Town-born player won the top goal scorer award with 18 goals in the Finish second division back in the 2019/20 term.
Additionally, Smith lifted the Moroccan Cup with AS FAR in the 2020/21 season, before clinching another domestic cup title with Inter Turku in 2024 after his return to Finland in January 2023, where he scored 28 goals and grabbed four assists in 72 matches across two campaigns.
On the other hand, Bradley Carnell’s Philadelphia Union returned to winning ways with a slender win over St. Louis City, thanks to a solitary goal from Argentine center-back Ian Glavinovich in the eighth minute, with Olwethu Makhanya not in the matchday squad.
The former Bafana Bafana defender has his charges at the top of the table with 12 points after five matches played. Philadelphia will return to action with a visit to Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami at Chase Stadium in Florida on Sunday.
