Egypt and Ghana share entertaining draw

Second-half frenzy denies both teams victory as Egypt and Ghana head into their final round of fixtures both needing a victory to qualify after they shared a 2-2 draw on Thursday evening. 

LINEUPS

EGYPT XI: El Shenawy; Hamdy, Abdelmonem, Hegazi, Kamal; Fathy, Elneny; Salah*, Marmoush, Ashour; Mohamed

EGYPT SUBS: Gabal, Sobhi, Gabr, El Fotouh, Hany, Trezeguet, Attia, Zizo, Hamada, Kahraba, Fathi, Koka

GHANA XI: Ofori*; Odoi, Djiku, Salisu, Mensah; Ashimeru, Samed; Williams, Kudus, J.Ayew; Semenyo

GHANA SUBS: Wollacott, Ati Zigi, Seidu, Opoku, Amartey, Baba, Owusu, Bukari, Nuamah, Paintsil, A.Ayew, Sowah

Action: It was a predictably tense and cagey affair between two of the biggest names on the African continent with both sides beginning this campaign with underwhelming and poor results.

There was the occasional flurry forward with Egypt shading the game in terms of territory and possession but The Pharoahs didn’t really look like creating much.

The game significantly swung in first-half stoppage-time, though, with Mohamed Salah being forced off with an injury, almost in tears as he handed the captain’s armband to former West Bromwich Albion defender, Ahmed Hegazi.

Less than a minute or so later and Ghana then took the lead with an excellent strike from West Ham United’s Mohammed Kudus. The attacking midfielder picked up the ball around 25 yards out and he used quick feet to adjust and shift the ball onto his left foot to fire hard past Mohamed El Shenawy in the Egypt goal and give The Black Stars a much-needed bit of respite. 

"That is absolutely sublime!" 🤯

What a strike from Mohammed Kudus! 💥 pic.twitter.com/yDhMWN4vuG

— Sky Sports Football (@SkyFootball) January 18, 2024

Ghana started the second-half the better of the two sides, too, and Kudus nearly made it a brace early on when Jordan Ayew’s in-swinging corner was only cleared as far as the former Ajax man and he fired into the ground with his effort just looping into the top of El Shenawy’s net. 

Egypt gave as good as they got, though, and thought they had got themselves back on level terms shortly after. Mohamed Elneny’s deep free-kick cross was put back across goal by Ahmed Hegazi and bundled into the net by Mohamed Abelmonem but it was ruled out as Hegazi had strayed offside from the free-kick.

Then, almost out of nowhere, a hectic and crazy five-minute period saw three goals go in as the game went from end to end as the two sides became desperate.

A sloppy Inaki Williams back pass to the goalkeeper was short and latched upon by Omar Marmoush, who calmly slotted into the net, getting to the ball ahead of Ghana captain and goalkeeper, Richard Ofori.

Ghana, though, struck back soon after via their key man Mohammed Kudus. Denis Odoi eased the ball inside to Kudus and he moved into the box before bending an effort that took a slight deflection beyond El Shenawy.

However, the Egyptians struck back straight away when second-half substitute Trezeguet dispossessed another sub, Osman Bukari, before driving into the box and then setting up Nantes striker, Mostafa Mohamed to poke home underneath Ofori. 

The big picture: Egypt have now rescued two points from this group stage after sharing a 2-2 draw with Mozambique the other day with a 97th minute Mohamed Salah penalty. Ghana now head into their final game against Mozambique desperate for victory after they were beaten 2-1 by Cabo Verde on Sunday afternoon.

Man of the match: Mohammed Kudus. The former Ajax man is very special and is once again proving that this season, this time for his country, with an excellent brace. 

EVENTS

Kick-off

’45 | INJURY: Salah

’45 | GOAL: Kudus (0-1)

Half-time

’52 | DISALLOWED: Abdolmonem

’69 | GOAL: Marmoush (1-1)

’71 | GOAL: Kudus (1-2)

’74 | GOAL: Mohamed (2-2)

Full-time