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Mo Salah Rescues Egypt In AFCON Opener With 97th-Minute Penalty Against Mozambique

Originally posted on FanNation Futbol
By Robert Summerscales  |  Last updated 1/14/24

Mo Salah converted a penalty kick deep into added time to earn Egypt a 2-2 draw against Mozambique in their Group B opener at the Africa Cup of Nations on Sunday.

Mozambique had come from 1-0 down to lead 2-1 and were moments away from recording their first ever AFCON win before Mostafa Mohamed was fouled inside the 18-yard box.

The penalty was not initially awarded by referee Beida Damane but a VAR review ruled in Egypt's favor.

Salah had failed to find the net from two of his previous penalties in 2024 but the Liverpool star made no mistake in the 97th minute when his powerful spot-kick went in via the inside of the post.

Salah had earlier produced an unintentional assist for Mohamed as Egypt took the lead inside the opening 90 seconds.

Salah's miskick inadvertently set up Nantes striker Mohamed to fire home from 13 yards.

But Mozambique equalized in the 55th minute when Witi found the net with a fine header following a cross from Domingos.

Mozambique then went ahead on 58 minutes. Clesio - who plays his club football for Gabala in Azerbaijan - charged through the Egypt defense before coolly shooting past Mohamed El Shenawy.

Salah should have equalized for Egypt before his late penalty but he produced another miskick to fire wide in regulation time.

Egypt will next be in action on Thursday when they take on Ghana. The other team in Group B is Cape Verde.

This article first appeared on FanNation Futbol and was syndicated with permission.

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