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Salah strikes late to see off Zimbabwe

football22 December 2025 22:10| © Backpage TXT
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Egypt left it late in their 2025 Africa Cup of Nations opener as they came back from behind to beat Zimbabwe 2-1 at the Adrar Stadium on Monday.

The Warriors went into the halftime break a goal to the good after Prince Dube broke the deadlock on 20 minutes, but Hossam Hassan's side turned things around in the second half as Omar Marmoush restored parity on 63 minutes before Mohamed Salah pounced with the winner in stoppage time.

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The Pharaohs bossed proceedings in the first half and didn't take long to threaten the opposition goal, with Marwan Attia shooting over the crossbar on 10 minutes after regaining possession from his own misplaced pass.

Emam Ashour came a little closer two minutes later after receiving the ball from Mohamed Salah and getting away from his marker, but his shot flew just wide of the right post.

Mario Marinica's side would register the first attempt on target when Jonah Fabisch got on the end of a cross to force a save out of Mohamed El Shenawy with his header on 18 minutes and they took a surprise lead just two minutes later.

Emmanuel Jalai found Dube inside the box with a precise pass and the striker showed composure to tuck his shot into the bottom left corner of the net, with El Shenawy well beaten.

Egypt looked to respond and Marmoush did well to elude his marker before lining up a shot from range that Arubi turned behind for a corner on 38 minutes.

The Manchester City striker had an even better chance to equalise in the first minute of added time, only to mis-hit his shot from inside the area as it flew over the bar.

Trezeguet at least managed to test Arubi on the stroke of halftime with a header from a corner that the veteran goalkeeper was able to block.

Marmoush got an early sniff at goal in the second half after running onto a pass inside the box and hitting a low shot towards the left post on 54 minutes, but Arubi denied him with a smart save.

The North Africans finally hit back just after the hour mark as Marmoush produced a quality finish from inside the box to give Arubi no chance with a shot that flew inches under the crossbar.

Mostafa Mohamed could have put Egypt ahead on 69 minutes after making contact with Zizo's pin-point cross, but he failed to keep his header down.

Zizo then proved wasteful as he too failed to hit the target with a header from Mohamed Hamdy's cross that cleared the crossbar on 73 minutes.

Arubi had to be at his best four minutes later to prevent Ibrahim Adel's shot from inside the box finding the bottom left corner of the net as Egypt pushed for the winning goal.

A rare chance for the Warriors in the second half saw Tawanda Chirewa clear the target with a rushed effort from range on 85 minutes.

But there was late drama to come as Salah latched onto a pass inside the box and drilled his shot inside the right post, having done little all game but delivered when it mattered most.

The Pharaohs are next in action against South Africa on 26 December, while Zimbabwe lock horns with COSAFA rivals Angola that same day.

Egypt (0) 2 (Marmoush 63', Salah 90+1')

Zimbabwe (1) 1 (Dube 20')

Egypt: M. El Shenawy, M. Hany, H. Abdelmaguid, Y. Ibrahim, M. Hamdy (A. Fatouh 82'), M. Attia (I. Adel 66'), H. Fathy, M. Salah, E. Ashour (M. Mohamed 34'), Trezeguet (Zizo 67'), O. Marmoush.

Zimbabwe: W. Arubi, G. Murwira, M. Garananga, G. Takwara, T. Hadebe, M. Nakamba, E. Jalai (T. Maswanhise 88'), J. Fabisch, P. Dube (T. Chirewa 72'), D. Msendami (P. Padera 72'), W. Navaya (M. Bonne 46').

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