Mohamed Salah was the saviour for his team once again, as Egypt came from behind to beat Morocco 2-1 after extra time at the Africa Cup of Nations.
The quarter-final tie was a stop-start affair with more fouls and clashes among the players than chances on goal, but the Pharaohs had enough quality in the final third thanks to their talismanic No 1, who delivered two clinical moments from close range - and were indebted to goalkeeper Mohamed Abougabal, who went off injured after a fantastic late save.
It had all started very positively for the Atlas Lions, with PSG full-back Achraf Hakimi striding into the box and being brought down just a couple of minutes into the game.
Despite the referee somehow not spotting the foul, VAR insisted on a pitchside monitor check and the spot-kick was duly given – Sofiane Boufal confidently rattling home the penalty for a third goal of the tournament.
With Egypt having only scored twice in their four matches prior to this one, Carlos Queiroz’s side had to come up with a very different plan – fortunately, possessing one of the game’s most in-form players this season made their task somewhat more manageable.
After a first half of few further chances, Salah found the equaliser just minutes after the restart, tapping home from close range after an initial header was saved and parried back out to him.
Mostafa Mohamed and Omar Marmoush both tried their luck from range as Egypt just about edged on top by possession and territory, but the game’s best opportunity for a late winner came at the other end. Nayef Aguerd powerfully headed at goal after a cross from the left, but Abougabal sprung into action to tip the effort onto the crossbar and out. He appeared to pull a thigh muscle in making the stop and, despite attempting to soldier on into extra time, it soon became apparent that his movement was too limited.
Third-choice goalkeeper Mohamed Sobhi replaced him a few minutes after the additional 30 minutes began, before Egyptian fans were able to break into celebration soon after.
Salah this time was the creator, occupying two defenders with a rapid dribble off the right flank and laying a perfect cross along the six-yard box for Trezeguet to slide home.
Morocco were spent and offered next to nothing in retaliation, their apathy summed up by a last-minute free-kick which saw their own goalkeeper Yassine Bono come up for it – but they instead went short, lost possession and almost conceded a third to Salah on the counterattack with no keeper in place, only for an overhit pass to force him to shoot into the side-netting from a narrow angle.
The two goals were enough though and Egypt now progress to face Cameroon in the semi-finals, a repeat of the 2017 Afcon final which saw this year’s hosts triumph on that occasion.
Sunday’s late game, the fourth and last quarter-final tie, saw Senegal defeat Equatorial Guinea 3-1 to go through to face Burkina Faso on Wednesday.
Sadio Mane’s through pass saw Famara Diedhiou put Senegal ahead before Jannick Buyla equalised just before the hour mark – but the Lions of Teranga proved too strong in the closing stages. Cheikhou Kouyate put them back in front with just over 20 minutes left on the clock, with the fit-again Ismaila Sarr marking his comeback from injury with the final goal of the game off the bench.
