We can tell Souma lost this battle just from the stakes. That's one of the major flaws with a manga like this, if the stakes are high the hero cannot lose, but if the stakes are non-existent or of low value, you know out Hero is going to lose.
A major problem is that their either the highest stakes (Souma will be expelled), or no stakes (just a friendly competition between someone far better then him); there is no middle ground in this manga, and because of that after a certain point there are no stakes. If Souma is expelled that's the end of the story, and he normally impresses the person he has a friendly spar with that it clear he will surpass them by the time they have a serious match. The Autumn moon festival was interesting because it was just a competition between the the top students, and there was no threat of expulsion.
Edited by Bail o' Lies, 20 August 2018 - 01:27 PM.