A 90th minute well-placed free kick by Brazilian Paullinho earned Sudanese Al-Merrikh a deserved 1-1 away draw against Ismaili on Sunday in the CAF Confederation Cup quarter finals group stage. Moatassem Salem broke the deadlock in the 83rd minute and appeared to have sealed the victory for his side but they had to suffer a late equalizer from Paulinho 7 minutes later to register a disappointing start of their campaign. Unexpectedly the Sudanese started the game with a lot of enthusiasm and pressed on the hosts who were lacking confidence because of the absence of their coach Patrice Neveu and star players Hosni Abd-Rabou, Mohamed Fadl and Sayed Moawad. Otto Pfister men were the first to create the danger as they went inches from getting the advantage but Hani Saied cleared the ball from the goal line.
Paulinho scored the equalizer Salem could have opened the score twice but his close range headers were denied by the bar and the keeper. In the second period the Dervishes intensified their efforts. Mohamed Mohsen Abou Greisha missed a golden opportunity from inside the box after Abdullah Al-Saied showed a real piece of art before delivering him the ball but he blasted it over the bar. And finally the goal came at the 83rd minute when Salem connected with substitute Mohamed Abdul-Wahed's cross to head into the back of the net. The home side were able to keep their advantage for just 7 minutes as Brazilian Paulinho curled in a well-placed free kick to get his team a point in the beginning of their campaign.
