Trio continue battle for second spot

Police Union, ENPPI and Ismaili continued the battle for second spot in the Egyptian Premier League with hard-fought victories on Friday.<br>

كتب : Hatem Maher

الجمعة، 03 ديسمبر 2010 - 20:33
Police Union, ENPPI and Ismaili continued the battle for second spot in the Egyptian Premier League with hard-fought victories on Friday.

Surprise package Police Union closed the gap on leaders Zamalek to four points after snatching a last-gasp win over Gouna.

Nigerian striker Minusu Buba, who finished last season as the league's top scorer with 14 goals, struck the winner in stoppage time to give Police, who are blossoming under coach Talaat Youssef, a precious victory.

ENPPI, who played one game more than Police, remained third after claiming a dramatic 3-2 victory over Military Production.

Egyptian international striker Ahmed Abdul-Zaher put ENPPI ahead on the quarter-hour mark to move level on eight goals with joint top scorer Shikabala of Zamalek.

Production's Ahmed Zaghloul equalized on 53 minutes but attacking midfielder Islam Awad, who took part in Egypt's friendly game against Australia last month, restored ENPPI's lead one minute later.

Mohamed Abdul-Wahab looked to have secured a share of spoils with eight minutes remaining but Ivorian striker Vincent Die Foneye handed ENPPI all three points with a stoppage-time strike.

ENPPI, who won four out of their last six games, have 23 points but lie third due to their inferior goal difference to Police.

Ismaili, fourth on 22, continued their revival with a narrow 1-0 win over a stubborn Wadi Degla side.

The Dervishes were reeling earlier in the season when they failed to make it beyond the African Champions League group stage but they recovered to register two successive victories over bitter foes Ahli and struggling Ittihad.

They broke down Degla's resolute defense with a superb near-post finish from in-form midfielder Amr Al-Sulaya nine minutes from time.