Egyptian midfielder Mohamed Shawky finally made his Premiership debut against Pompey and helped his side to emerge victories and win three precious points. Shawky played the full match and appeared in a very good shape especially in the first half.


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Solid display by Shawky on Premiership debut

Shawky made a very good Premiership debut for Boro in their away clash with Portsmouth. The Egyptian looked eager to impress his manager and remained on pitch the whole ninety minutes.

Shawky's display will earn him more Premiership starts in the near future as the Egyptian did his defensive duties pretty well, linked up well with his teammates and looked prepared for the pace of the Premiership games. Shawky's passing was simple and quick and he rarely kept the ball at his feet for long but instead, he always tried to pass the ball directly.

The initial impression on Shawky in England is that he made a good debut. SkySports gave him a rating of 7/10 while the highest rated player got an 8/10. Boro fans are also quite impressed with the Egyptian and feel that he will be a first team regular more than Boateng.

Shawky didn't get chances to score but he played very well in defense and moved fast to close the gaps in Boro's defense. Such movement and spirit from the Egyptian and his teammates granted them a very important win which put them away from relegation zone as they moved into the 14th spot.

The only goal in the game came in the 19th minute when Downing crossed the ball from the right wing into the far post to find O'Neil who sent it back into the area to Tuncay who was left with a simple finish in front of goal.

A couple of minutes later, Shawky made a good sprint with the ball in the right flank but he was brought down by a defender. However, the referee didn't whistle for a foul for the Egyptian and the gameplay continued.

Minutes later, Shawky obstructed Nwanko Kanu and the match referee awarded the homeside a freekick in a dangerous position. Shawky made a brave sliding tackle to block a powerful shot but the referee already whistled for a freekick on Luke young and showed him a yellow card as well.

Good block by Shawky

In the 38th minute, Shawky passed the ball very well with his teammates and moved well into empt space in the right flank, the Egyptian caught the eyes with this move as it proved that he has a good eye for the pass and that he also possesses good off the ball skills.

With the end of the first half, Shawky walked out while chatting with the goalscorer Sanli Tuncay.

Shawky and Tuncay chatting after the end of first half

In the 2nd half, Portsmouth looked more dangerous and Boro players were content to play in their own half most of the time. Shawky moved forward alittle more often though while Arca focused more on defense. However, Boro didn't have enough firepower at front to cause a threat with counter attacks.

Despite this, Dong Gook had some decent chances to score and so did Tuncay but their control and final touch were lacking.

In the final minutes, Shawky and his teammates managed to defend their lead and won the game to move up to the 14th spot in the table.

EP congratulate Shawky for his solid display in his first Premiership game and will bring more updates and media reactions on him in the next few hours..

All the latest on Mido, Shawky and Ghaly will b here on Egyptianplayers.com

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