Izuchukwu Okosi
Seven-time African champions Egypt booked their place in the semi-finals of the TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations, Cameroon 2021 with a hard fought 2-1 victory over north African rivals Morocco at the Stade Ahmadou Ahidjo Sunday evening.
Join our WhatsApp ChannelCaptain Mohamed Salah and substitute Mahmoud Hassan Trezeguet scored for the Pharaohs who went behind after Sofiane Boufal converted an early penalty for the Atlas Lions.
The derby lived up to its billing as Morocco won a penalty in the second minutes following a late on Hakimi by Egypt’s Ayman Ashraf.
Boufal made no mistake from 12 yards when he calmly slotted past stand in keeper Mohamed Kotb Gabal.
Despite going behind the Pharaohs settled into the match and came close to levelling the score after 19 minutes when Ashraf hit a fierce strike straight at Bounou.
Morocco captain Ghanem Saiss denied Omar Marmoush from scoring with an inch perfect last ditch tackle.
The Atlas Lions saw defender Nayef Aguerd’s header turned against the woodwork by Gabal who filled in for the injured El Shenawy.
The two giants headed to extra time to settle the quarter final with Trezequet scoring the winner with a tap in from Salah’s cross.
The Pharaohs will now play hosts Cameroon in the semi-finals in Yaounde.
Izuchukwu Okosi is a Nigerian sports and entertainment journalist with two decades of experience in the media industry having begun his media journey in 2002 as an intern at Mundial Sports International (MSI) and Africa Independent Television (AIT), owners of Daar Communications Plc.
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