CAIRO: A highly controversial penalty from Faisal Agab earned Sudan’s Merrikh a fortunate 1-0 win over nine-man Ismaili on Sunday to put an end to the Dervishes adventure in this CAF Confederation Cup.
The referee pointed the spot kick adjudging Ismaili defenders to have fouled Agab who appeared on TV replay to have lost his balance.
Ismaili finished the game with only nine men on the pitch as Abdullah Al-Shahat and Sherif Abdul-Fadil were shown the red cards in the 56th and 87th minute respectively.
The result put the Egyptian side out of the race for the final as they have five points, while Merrikh climbed to the top of the standing with 10 points.
The hosts had the first sight of goal as Ismaili goalie Mohamed Sobhi was forced to make some heroic saves denying a close range shot from Faisal Agab and a couple of long range shots.
Merrikh squandered numerous chances to break the deadlock until the 43rd minute when Agab opened the scoring from the spot.
The visitors became more energetic after the break but failed to capitalize on any of their chances.
Against the run of play, Merrikh won a second penalty after Alaa El-Din Babikir went clear on goal but was denied by Sobhi in the 73rd minute.
The decision blew violent incidents on the pitch from Ismaili players who protested the decision.
The referee ordered a replay of the kick after it had been blocked. But Agab lost it again to end the game with a narrow 1-0 win that kept the Sudanese as favorites for the final.
