Mohamed Salah scored for the Pharaohs as they clinched a narrow win in the AFCON quarter-finals.
Egypt defeated Morocco 2-1 in their Africa Cup of Nations quarter-final tie on Sunday. The Pharaohs came back from behind to secure a hard-earned spot in the competition’s semi-finals.
Classic North African derby!
Egypt came into the match on the back of their penalty win against Ivory Coast last week. Similar to that game, Carlos Queiroz’s side made a start slow to the game against Morocco.
A foul on Achraf Hakimi resulted in an early penalty for the Atlas Lions. Sofiane Boufal then sent Abou Gabal the wrong way to make it 1-0 only seven minutes into the game.
Egypt started their attacks to get the equalizer as soon as they conceded the early opener. However, it took them more than 45 minutes to get what they were looking for. Following a shot from Mostafa Mohamed, Mohamed Salah converted the rebound to make it 1-1 in the 52nd minute.
Tunisia showed more desire to attack after the equalizer. However, both sides remained cautious of each other’s counter-attacks, and the game ended in a draw after 90 minutes.
Egypt had to replace Gabal with their third-choice goalkeeper Mohamed Sobhy at the beginning of the extra time. The Pharaohs gained more possession during the final 30 minutes and finally scored the winner in the 100th minute. A brilliant run from Salah provided him to pass the ball across the goal to Trezeguet. The Aston Villa forward kept his cool and sent Egypt to the semi-finals with a precise strike.
Egypt will face Cameroon in a semi-final tie on Thursday.
Player Ratings
Egypt: Abou Gabal (6), Kamal (6), Abdelmonem (7), Fotouh (7), Hegazy (6), Mohamed (6), Ashraf (5), Elneny (6), El Soleya (7), Salah (8), Abdallah (6), Marmoush (6).
Bench: Sobhi (6), Hamdy (5), Alaa (6), Zizo (6), Trezeguet (7), R. Sobhi (6).
Morocco: Bounou (6), Hakimi (7), Aguerd (7), Saiss (7), Masina (7), Amrabat (7), Barkok (6), Amallah (5), El Haddadi (6), Boufal (7), En-Nesyri (6).
Bench: Rahimi (6), Mmaee (5), Aboukhlal (6), Louza (6), Tissoudali (5).
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