RABAT, Morocco – Mohamed Salah scored again as Egypt’s 10 men held on to beat South Africa 1-0 t in their Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) Group B clash in Agadir to become the first team into the knockout stages of the competition.
Egypt has six points from their opening two games and cannot finish outside of the top two in the group. South Africa has three points from their two games, Reuters reported.
Salah, who secured the Pharaohs´ opening win with a stoppage-time strike against Zimbabwe, did it again in Agadir and his penalty before the break secured progression from Group B.
But South Africa should arguably have been given a penalty in stoppage time when Yasser Ibrahim blocked a shot with his arm. After a long delay, the referee decided against awarding the spot kick after consulting video replays and Ibrahim sank to the ground in relief.
Salah converted his penalty after he was struck in the face by the hand of the retreating South Africa forward Lyle Foster. Salah showed no ill effects from the blow and sent his shot straight down the middle while goalkeeper Ronwen Williams dived to his right.
There was still time before the break for Egypt defender Mohamed Hany to get sent off, after receiving a second yellow card for a foul on Teboho Mokoena.
Goalkeeper Mohamed El Shenawy was Egypt´s key player in the second half.
“We gave our all in this match right until the end, and we also hope for the best for what comes next,” the 37-year-old El Shenawy said.
Lassine Sinayoko’s second-half penalty rescued a 1-1 draw for Mali to stop the hosts Morocco from booking their spot in the last 16 in Rabat. Morocco hit the front thanks to Brahim Díaz’s spot-kick deep into added time in the first half.
Díaz earned the penalty with a fine bit of individual work before Nathan Gassama handled in the area but Mali got their own penalty after a video assistant referee check after 64 minutes when Sinayoko was upended and he made no mistake. Morocco sits top of Group A on four points, with Mali and Zambia both on two.
Angola and Zimbabwe each earned their first point at the tournament following a 1-1 draw but the result leaves both facing early elimination. They both lost their opening Group B clashes and are now left with difficult assignments in their last matches next week which they will effectively need to win if they are to progress.
Angola went ahead in the 24th minute when To Carneiro’s chipped pass fell perfectly for striker Gelson Dala, who ran on to it and squeezed the ball in at the near post as Zimbabwe’s defence proved too slow in closing down.
There was a lengthy delay soon after as Angola goalkeeper Hugo Marques suffered a cut above his eye after a clash of heads with Zimbabwe’s Divine Lunga.
He was bandaged up and continued but, in the sixth minute of stoppage time at the end of the first, he was beaten as Zimbabwe’s veteran striker Knowledge Musona equalised.
Angola now goes up against the group’s top seeds Egypt, in Agadir on Monday, while Zimbabwe takes on neighbours South Africa in Marrakech at the same time.
Zambia’s hopes of making the knockout stages suffered a setback after being held to a goalless draw by Comoros in Casablanca.
Comoros, beaten by the hosts Morocco in their opening Group A fixture, thought they had taken the lead in the 19th minute through Myziane Maolida after he was played in by Rafiki Saïd, but the goal was ruled out by the VAR for a foul in the buildup.
Zambia struggled to break down their opponents with the captain Fashion Sakala sending an angled shot into the side netting. Comoros went close to snatching a late winner with 10 minutes left when Youssouf M’Changama floated in a deep cross from the left which Zambia’s goalkeeper Willard Mwanza failed to collect, but Faïz Selamani sent his close-range header over.
