Mohamed Salah and Egypt narrowly escaped a disappointing performance as Salah’s last-gasp penalty secured a 2-2 draw against Mozambique, denying the latter their first-ever AFCON win.
Egypt took an early lead within two minutes when Mohamed Salah, unable to control a ball into the box, saw Mostafa Mohamed spin and unleash a powerful shot into the bottom corner.
Trezeguet came close to doubling the lead shortly after, but his fierce low drive struck the base of the post.
Mozambique, however, levelled the proceedings early in the second half, ending a 14-year AFCON goal drought, as Witi netted a superb header that stunned Egypt.
Just a minute later, Clesio Bauque added a second for Mozambique, turning the game around completely. He sprinted beyond a last-ditch slide tackle from Ahmed Hegazi and calmly finished into the corner.
With only eight minutes remaining, Salah had a chance in the area but shanked his volley wide, an uncharacteristic finish for the Liverpool star.
In injury time, Egypt received an unexpected lifeline when a penalty was awarded after Mohamed was brought down in the area following a lengthy VAR check.
Salah stepped up and converted the penalty, saving Egypt from a late defeat. However, the final result merely masked the flaws in both Salah’s individual performance and the national team’s overall display.
Egypt will strive for their first win against Ghana on Thursday, presenting another challenging test for Salah and his teammates. Meanwhile, Mozambique’s next fixture is against Cape Verde on Friday.