Salah strikes as Egypt toils to a vital victory
Mohamed Salah scored the only goal of the game to give Egypt a narrow Africa Cup of Nations victory against Guinea-Bissau at the Roumde Adjia Stadium on Sunday (AEDT).
The Liverpool star struck a precise volley midway through the second half to secure his side's first points of the tournament, but it was another hard toil for Carlos Queiroz's men.
The Pharaohs breathed a sigh of relief late on when an apparently brilliant equaliser from Mama Balde was ruled out after a lengthy video assistant referee (VAR) check for a foul by the goalscorer on Omar Kamal.
Salah had struggled to make an impression in Egypt's opening defeat against Nigeria after being played down the middle, but the 29-year-old was back in his favoured position on the right side for this game and gave a hint that it could pay off in just the second minute as he received the ball in space before cutting inside and firing a shot against the near post.
Fali Cande hit a free-kick over the bar after 11 minutes for Guinea-Bissau, before Egypt hit the same part of the same post again when a nice move between Salah, Omar Marmoush and Mostafa Mohamed saw the latter's shot deflect away off the woodwork.
Egypt coach Quieroz made changes to his team in the second half, including moving Salah back into the middle, and it worked as a clipped ball in the 69th minute into the box from Amr El Soleya found the Liverpool man, whose left-footed volley squirmed under Guinea-Bissau goalkeeper Jonas Mendes.
The Pharaohs hit the post for a third time through Zizo, before Balde got away from Kamal and hit a tremendous shot into the far right corner, but the VAR check saw the goal disallowed for a foul on the defender as Egypt went second in Group D with one game to go.
