Ismaili secured provisional second spot after beating a troubled Ittihad side 1-0 in Alexandria on Wednesday in the Egyptian Premier League. Ahmed Ali notched the winner on 38 minutes. Ismaili are now three points behind leaders Ahli, who were held to a 1-1 draw at Masri on the same day. The Dervishes suffered a poor start to the season under Nebojsa Vuckovic, having drawn with Mansoura 2-2 and losing to ENPPI 3-2 in their opening couple of matches. Tactician Emad Soliman turned around Ismaili's fortunes after succeeding the Serbian coach, who was shown the door shortly after the unsatisfying results. Ittihad are now languishing at the bottom of the table with a sole point, after their winless streak was extended to five matches. Elsewhere, Mansoura defeated nine-man Police Union 2-0 at home, thanks to strikes from Ibrahim Marzouk and Wali Mowafi on 33 and 59 minutes respectively. Police played the game with a man down, after Hamdi Seif saw red in the 32nd minute for objecting to a referee decision. His teammate Mohamed Hanafi received his marching orders two minutes from time. Promoted Mansoura, who were in 14th place before the game, leapfrogged into seventh with six points. Police moved back to fifth place on seven points. Arab Contractors beat top-flight newcomers Gouna 2-0 to be level on points with Masnoura. Alaa Kamal and Mohamed Samara sealed the victory for the Mountain Wolves.
