CAIRO/ LILONGWE – World Cup-bound Ghana and Tunisia were both held to draws in the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers as Egypt scored a late winner to snatch victory in their opening game of the campaign.
Moustafa Mohamed’s deflected strike in the 87th minute handed The Pharaohs a slim 1-0 victory over a resolute Guinea.
The win takes Egypt second in Group D with three points, same as Malawi who earlier on started their campaign with a 2-1 victory at home over Ethiopia.
The Egyptians now switch their attention to the second group match against Ethiopia on Thursday while Guinea hopes to bounce back when they face Malawi.
Mohamed Salah was honoured for his cup success with Liverpool before the start of the game with a guard of honour from the other players and an award from the Egyptian Football Association.
Guinea was looking set to guard a draw away from home, but Mohamed snatched the three points at the Cairo International Stadium, giving new head coach Ehab Galal a perfect start in his new tenure.
The Pharaohs duly deserved the three points as they were the more attacking side, though they struggled to have the ball inside the net.
Omar Marmoush had been a busy man in the Egyptian attacking third and he had a close opportunity with a shot flashing just inches wide. In the 37th minute, he was set up with a beautiful lofted ball by Mohamed Salah, but his rasping shot flew over the bar.
In the second-half, the Egyptians continued prodding the Guinean half looking for the opener. They had a close opportunity in the 49th minute when Salah curled a freekick beyond the wall but it was punched away by the keeper. Hamdi Fathi picked the rebound but his shot was deflected for a corner.
Guinea who was mostly forced to be on the defending end had a rare chance in the 54th minute when Egypt lost the ball cheaply and play quickly turned against them.
The ball was played out to Thierno Barry, but his shot on the volley went just wide with keeper Mohamed Abou Gabal left rooted to his spot.
Having survived the scare, Egypt continued with their search for a goal. In the 58th minute, Omar Gaber forced the Guinean keeper to a good reaction save. A corner was defended to his path and the Pyramids defender took on a first time shot from range, which was punched away by the keeper.
The North African giants continued playing the ball into the Guinean half knocking on the door for an opening goal. It finally opened up for them in the 87th minute when Mohamed found the back of the net.
A cross from Ibrahim Adel was deflected to his path and he took on a shot which came off Antoine Conte, taking it further away from keeper Ibrahim Kone and dinking to the bottom left corner.
Malawi defeats Ethiopia
In the same group, Malawi edged Ethiopia 2-1 with all the goals in Lilongwe coming from penalties.
Gabadinho Mhango’s two goals in the first-half was enough to secure the maximum points for the Flames at the Bingu National Stadium in Lilongwe.
The Orlando Pirates striker netted the opening goal of the match as early as the 10th minute after converting a penalty kick to put the hosts ahead.
Mhango scored again from the spot to double the advantage for Malawi after defender Mignot Debebe committed a foul inside the penalty box leading to a caution.
Mhango nearly got a hat-trick in the second half but his effort was saved by Fasil Gebremichael before Abubeker Nasir scored from the spot to pull one back for Ethiopia in the 68th minute.
Tunisia and Ghana held
Elsewhere in Group J, Botswana matched Tunisia boot-for-boot after holding the Carthage Eagles to a scoreless draw in a matchday two fixture at the Francistown Stadium.
The first-half belonged to Tunisia whose dominance couldn’t pay off as Botswana shot stopper Goitseone Phoko made some key stops to deny them.
The Zebras came back from the break the stronger side but they could not exploit the Tunisian defence, having just a shot on target in the process.
Qatar World Cup qualifiers Ghana battled in Group E against the Central African Republic, who forced a 1-1 draw despite playing in Angola because they do not have an international-standard stadium.
After hammering Madagascar 3-0 Wednesday, Ghana would have expected to pick up three more points at a neutral venue against rivals 27 places lower in the world rankings.
The four-time African champions went ahead on 17 minutes when a low, swerving shot from outside the box eluded the outstretched hand of goalkeeper Alladoum Kolimba.
But a scarcity of possession did not prevent the Wild Beasts levelling four minutes before half-time as France fourth-tier forward Karl Namnganda burst forward and rifled the ball past Lawrence Ati-Zigi.
Namnganda scored the goal that gave the Central African Republic a stunning World Cup qualifying victory in Nigeria last year.
Despite the setback, Ghana leads the section on goal difference from Angola, who conceded a soft goal but equalised soon after to force a 1-1 draw with Madagascar in Antananarivo.
A Njiva Rakotoharimalala tap-in put the Malagasys ahead under recalled French coach Nicolas Dupuis and Jacinto ‘Gelson’ Dala levelled by heading in a far-post cross.
It was a potentially vital away point for the Angolans in the probable contest for second spot behind Ghana, whose last Cup of Nations triumph came 40 years ago.
Group J pacesetters Tunisia had a similar matchday 2 experience to Ghana, drawing away to a lower ranked side after launching their campaign with a big home victory.
After thrashing Equatorial Guinea 4-0 in midweek, the Carthage Eagles twice struck the woodwork as they drew 0-0 with Botswana in Francistown.
Tunisia and Ghana now head to Tokyo for Kirin Cup semi-finals against Chile and Japan respectively on June 10 and both will play again four days later, either in the final or third place play-off.
