Ismaili climbed to second place in the Egyptian Premier League table after scraping a 3-2 win against Masri in Ismailia on Friday. The fixture, which was played behind closed doors for security measures, saw Masri play 74 minutes with ten men after Ali Samir's early dismissal. Ismaili are now on 41 points, four behind leaders Ahli, while Masri remain seventh with 29 points. Early Dismissal The first chance of the game fell to Ahmed Samir Farag, who fired a long-range shot forcing George Owu to save at full stretch. Masri were reduced to ten men on 16 minutes after Samir's professional foul on Mohamed Mohsen when the striker was one on one with Owu. However, Ismaili failed to capitalize on such reduction, and it was Masri who took the lead in the 25th minute through Ibrahim Al-Hilali. The lone striker took advantage of Abdul-Hamid Sami's blunder by rounding Dario Khan before chipping past Mohamed Sobhi. Al-Hilali nearly scored a copycat goal four minutes later, but this time Sobhi came out of his line to save the hosts from conceding a second. Ismaili coach Ricardo made two early substitutions before the end of the first-half by bringing Mohamed Fadl and Mohab Saied.
Right after the interval, Fadl could have scored for Ismaili, but the former Ahli man blazed a clear header over from Farag's cross. Saied rewarded his coach by scoring an equalizer. The midfielder latched onto a through pass from Mohamed Hommos to score from a tight angle. The Dervishes added a second in the 57th minute after a lovely move from between Fadl and Mohsen released the former through on Owu. Thrilling Finale The visitors had a golden opportunity to level the score when Osama Azab was allowed to cut inside from the left and rifle a shot off Sobhi's bar. On 84 minutes, Mostafa Karim was released through on the right, but rather than shoot the Iraq forward tried to square before Masri's defence intercepted his effort. Ismaili were made to pay for missing their chances moments later, as Al-Hilali beat Sobhi to head home an inch-perfect free-kick in the 91st minute. The home side redeemed themselves when Saied once again received Hommos shot to score from inside the box and salvage his team a hard-fought win. Watch the game's goals
