Mohamed Salah And Sadio Mane Inspire Egypt And Senegal To AFCON Semi-Final Spots
Liverpool stars Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane will both play in the semi-finals of the Africa Cup of Nations after they each helped their countries, Egypt and Senegal, into the final four
Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane will both compete in the semi-finals of the Africa Cup of Nations after helping Egypt and Senegal through.
The Liverpool stars advanced into the final four of the tournament with their respective countries on Sunday evening, with Salah’s performance the standout as he inspired Egypt to a 2-1 victory over Morocco after extra-time.
Meanwhile, Mane played the full 90 minutes in Senegal’s 3-1 win against Equatorial Guinea, despite suffering a concerning head injury in the last 16.
Much like for Liverpool this season, Salah stole the spotlight, scoring and providing the assist for the winning goal as Egypt battled back from behind to set up a semi-final clash with hosts Cameroon.
An early penalty from former Southampton forward Sofiane Boufal had given Morocco the lead in the North African derby at the Olembe Stadium in Yaounde.
Mohamed Salah inspired Egypt to victory
In what was an evenly contested clash, Salah levelled the score for Egypt eight minutes after the break after he pounced on Morocco goalkeeper Yassine Bounou only palming a save back into the danger zone.
Carlos Quieroz‘s side grew increasingly stronger throughout the match but the sides could not be separated in normal time, prompting an extra 30 minutes.
Salah was again decisive for Egypt as they took the lead in the 100th minute of the clash as he escaped down the right wing before playing a perfectly-timed delivery for Aston Villa forward Trezeguet to tap home.
It continued Salah’s leading role in the tournament, and it came just four days after the Liverpool winger netted the decisive penalty in the shootout against Ivory Coast.
In the last quarter-final bout, Senegal had substitutes Cheikhou Kouyate and Ismaila Sarr to thank after their decisive contributions.
Crystal Palace midfielder Kouyate had only been on the pitch for two minutes when he capitalised on some dreadful Equatorial Guinea defending and restored Senegal’s lead after Jannick Buyla had cancelled out Famara Diedhiou’s opener.
And Sarr then finished off a superb move 11 minutes from time as he made his first appearance for club or country since scoring in Watford‘s 4-1 win over Manchester United on November 20.
Mane set up the opening goal with a pinpoint pass to Diedhiou, allowing the Alanyaspor striker to fire home at the near post.
There was controversy as Equatorial Guinea were awarded a penalty early in the second half when Iban Edu flicked the ball on to the hand of Napoli stalwart Kalidou Koulibaly.
But the referee was told by VAR to look at the pitchside monitor and eventually reversed his decision.
Sadio Mane helped Senegal through
Juan Micha’s men did not their heads drop, though, deservedly equalised after 57 minutes when Buyla fired home with the outside of his right foot, having being played in courtesy of Pablo Ganet’s sublime reverse pass.
However, Senegal edged back in front 10 minutes later when Equatorial Guinea failed to clear a corner, two defenders went for the same ball and Akapo Martinez succeeded only in heading it backwards for Kouyate to nip in front of the goalkeeper and prod home.
And fellow substitute Sarr put the result beyond doubt when he side-footed into an empty net from Saliou Ciss’s low cross following a brilliant cross-field pass from Koulibaly.
Senegal will face Burkina Faso in the last four.