Two penalties from midfielder Hosni Abd-Rabou earned Ismaili a 4-2 home victory over Harras Al-Hodoud in the Egyptian League on Monday. Amr Samir and Sayed Moawad also notched for the Dervishes while Abdul-Salam Nagah and Amr Al-Dali were on target for Al-Hodoud. Military club Al-Hodoud played with 10 men on the field for the last 13 minutes after midfielder Abdul-Rahman Farouk was sent-off for a second bookable offense. Ismaili are second in the league table with 51 points, five ahead of third-placed Zamalek who still have two games in hand while Al-Hodoud lie seventh on 32 points. The hosts were awarded a controversial penalty in the 14th minute when Moawad was allegedly brought down by Farouk inside the area. Television replays showed there was no contact. Penalty-kick specialist Abd-Rabou sent the keeper the wrong way and put Ismaili ahead.
Striker Samir doubled the lead in the 22nd minute when he connected with Omar Gamal's pinpoint cross at the far post to send a first-timer into the back of the net. Nagah pulled one back on the stroke of hour mark after receiving Al-Dali's free-kick from the right-flank with a brilliant backward header past Ismaili keeper Mohamed Sobhi. Al-Hodoud's efforts to equalize suffered a major blow after Farouk received his marching orders for handling the ball inside the area. Egypt international Abd-Rabou stepped-up and made no mistake from the resulting spot. Despite their numerical disadvantage, Al-Dali gave Al-Hodoud a lifeline from another awarded penalty four minutes from time. However, Moawad killed-off the visitors' hope in stoppage time when he latched on to Gamal's superb pass to fire into the bottom corner of the net from a tight angle.
