Ismaily's hopes of closing the gap at the top of the Egyptian League with leaders Ahly shrank with the Dervishes failed to overcome Assiouty at home on Monday.

Following the game Abou Taleb El-Issawi resigned from his post after spending only three weeks as coach.

The coastal side were held to a 1-1 draw by Assiouty as they fail to claim a win for the third game in a row.

Ismaily are second on the league table with 42 points, three points behind leaders Ahly who have two matches in hand.

Mohamed Rezk put the visitors ahead after converting a penalty five minutes before the break while Ismaily's veteran midfielder Hosny Abderabou leveled the score five minutes later.

The Dervishes lost seven points from 12 in their three previous games as they seemed harmed by the sudden departure of French coach Sebastien Desabre last month after being named as Uganda's new coach.

Under the guidance of El-Issawi, they claimed only one win over minnows El-Nasr before drawing with Ittihad of Alexandria and losing to Arab Contactors last week.

Ismaily won the last of their three league titles in 2002.

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