AFCON 2021: Salah goal helps Egypt sneak past Guinea Bissau

Egypt returned to winning ways by beating Guinea Bissau 1-0 courtesy of a Mo Salah goal to get their Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) campaign in Cameroon going.

The Egyptians began their campaign with a 1-0 defeat to Nigeria, while Guinea and Sudan played out a goalles draw in their tournament opener. Both teams were searching for their first goal in the tournament and chances to erase that record came in the first half but they were missed.

Guinea-Bissau Fali Candé’s free-kick attempt went narrowly over the crossbar in the ninth minute, while Egypt with Mohamed Salah and Mostafa Mohamed struck the post with their attempts.

Quite cagey for most parts of the first half and the second half got off to a sloppy start as Guinea-Bissau did well to prevent the North Africans from coming close to their goal, sitting back in numbers and limiting their presence in the final third.

Carlos Queiroz’s side eventually took the lead after 69 minutes when Salah freed himself off Opa Sanganté’s shoulder to meet El Solia’s teasing cross with an emphatic volley. Zizo struck the crossbar moments later as the Pharaohs went in search of the security goal. 

In the closing embers of the game, Guinea-Bissau thought they had got the equalizer when Mama Baldé beat Omar Kamal on the wing before sending an unstoppable strike past Mohamed El Shenawy just inside the far post. However, he was adjudged to have fouled the defender after a VAR review.

Egypt survived the late scare from their lowly-rated opponents to go second in the group after Nigeria defeated Sudan 3-1 in the other game. Samuel Chukwueze, Taiwo Awoniyi and Moses Simon scored for Nigeria while Walieldin Khidir grabbed his side’s consolation goal from the penalty spot. 

Read More: https://aclsports.com/afcon2021-super-eagles-spank-sudan-to-soar-into-round-two/

Photo Credit: AFP