In a captivating encounter, the Egyptian national team displayed contrasting performances, finishing in a 2-2 draw with Ghana in their second group stage match of the African Cup of Nations football on Thursday night. The match witnessed the injury exit of Liverpool star Mohamed Salah at the end of the first half, while Ghanaian team’s talisman Mohammed Kudus scored a brace.
The Egyptian team had not been at their best in the first half and suffered two significant blows when Salah was forced to leave the field due to injury during stoppage time before Kudus gave Ghana the lead with a shot from just outside the penalty area.
In the second half, Egypt looked revitalized and dominated most of the proceedings. Within an electric five-minute period, Egypt scored twice with goals from Omar Marmoush and Mostafa Mohamed, interspersed with Kudus’s second goal for Ghana.
Egypt currently holds second place in Group D with two points from two draws, while Ghana is at the bottom with a single point following their previous 2-1 loss to Cape Verde.
The game began with Egypt maintaining possession amidst high pressure from Ghana, which led to an early chance for Kudus. His long-range effort after reclaiming the ball from the Egyptian defense in the third minute safely reached Egyptian goalkeeper Mohamed El Shenawy.
Ghana almost took the lead in the fifth minute, but El Shenawy made a save before the referee called for an offside.
As time passed, Ghana started to dominate possession, with the Egyptian team falling back and barely threatening except for a notable incursion by Marmoush that ended in a foul inside the penalty area and a cross that found no takers.
The match continued with back-and-forth action, but without any real danger to either goal, though Ghana appeared closer to scoring.
Towards the end of the first half, Egypt seemed in better shape, especially on the left side with Marmoush leading.
In the most dangerous chance for Egypt, Marmoush leaped high but couldn’t connect with Omar Kamal’s cross from the right, and the ball fell to Imam Ashour, whose shot from inside the box was held by the goalkeeper in the 43rd minute.
Salah’s Injury
Just before the close of the first half’s regular time, Salah fell to the ground and signaled for a substitution after what appeared to be a hamstring injury, with Mostafa Fathi replacing him.
In the third minute of added time, Ghana opened the scoring with a rocket shot by Kudus from the edge of the penalty area amidst four Egyptian defenders.
At the beginning of the second half, Kudus fired another strong shot after a corner kick, but his attempt flew over the crossbar.
Mohamed Abdel Monem thought he had equalized in the 51st minute, following a cross by Ahmed Hegazi, but the referee annulled the goal for offside, confirmed by the video assistant referee.
The attempts from Fathi and Marmoush continued down the left, with the latter unleashing a powerful shot that the goalkeeper deflected over the bar in the 58th minute.
From a quick counter-attack initiated by Ashour with a ball interception from the Ghanaians, Marmoush’s strong shot in the 65th minute soared over the goal.
In the 68th minute, Coach Ehab Galal decided to bring in Mahmoud Hassan ‘Trezeguet’ in place of Arsenal’s Mohamed Elneny to spearhead a series of Egyptian attacks.
Egypt finally equalized in the 69th minute when Marmoush intercepted a weak pass by Inaki Williams meant for his goalkeeper, dribbled past the keeper, and slotted the ball into the net.
However, Egypt’s joy was short-lived as Kudus scored Ghana’s second goal in the 71st minute with a left-footed shot from inside the box amidst the absence of defensive marking.
Three minutes later, substitute Trezeguet stole the ball from a Ghana defender on the left flank and delivered a low cross that Mostafa Mohamed converted in the 74th minute, leveling the score at 2-2.
The final minutes saw both teams strive for a winner, but the scoreline remained unchanged until the end.
