Abd-Rabou's dismissal helped us, says Ismaili coach

The 2008 African Cup of Nations Player of the Tournament received his marching orders before half-time for an off-the-ball incident with Masri's Wagih Abdul-Azeem.

However, the Dervishes did not seem to be missing their star player as they went on to end Hossam Hassan side's eight-match unbeaten run impressively.

"Our players responded perfectly to the red card, they exerted double efforts to cover Abd-Rabou's absence, it was positive for us" said Al-Qammash.

"Omar Gamal and Abdullah Saied were excellent."

Ismaili are pushing for a second spot as they level with Gaish in third place with 47 points, only three adrift of Zamalek.