Mohamed Salah scored a dramatic stoppage-time winner to hand Egypt a 2–1 comeback victory over Zimbabwe in their opening Group B match of the Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco on Monday.
The Egypt captain, making his first start after a recent spell on the bench at Liverpool, fired home a left-footed effort in the 91st minute to seal a late win for the seven-time champions at the Grande Stade d’Agadir.
Egypt dominated the early stages and piled pressure on Zimbabwe’s defence but were stunned in the 20th minute when Prince Dube gave the underdogs the lead. Emmanuel Jalai slipped a pass into Dube, who turned sharply before calmly placing his shot into the bottom-left corner.
Despite controlling possession and creating several chances, Egypt struggled to convert their dominance into goals before the break. They came close to conceding a second when Daniel Msendami’s pace opened up the defence, forcing goalkeeper Mohamed El Shenawy to intervene and prevent Washington Navaya from scoring at close range.
The breakthrough for Egypt finally arrived in the 64th minute through Omar Marmoush. The forward collected a long pass on the left flank, cut inside and unleashed a powerful right-footed strike from a tight angle to draw his side level.
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“We created many chances without being able to score early, but in the end everything went well,” Marmoush said. “We kept a good mindset and finished the match strongly. We will learn from everything that happened tonight.”
Salah, who had endured a quiet game and arrived at the tournament under scrutiny, struggled to impose himself for long spells. However, he delivered when it mattered most, showing strength and composure to control the ball and steer home the winner deep into added time.
The victory ended Egypt’s run of six consecutive draws across the last two editions of the tournament and lifted them to the top of Group B alongside South Africa, who earlier defeated Angola 2–1 in Marrakech.
Egypt will face South Africa in their next group match on Boxing Day in Agadir, while Zimbabwe take on Angola on Friday in Marrakech.
