Mohammed Salah and Mahmoud HassanTrezeguet inspired Egypt to a semi-final spot as the Pharaohs came from behind to edge out Morocco 2-1 in an entertaining quarterfinal match in a much that needed an extra 30 minutes on top of the regular 30 to separate the two sides.A penalty goal by Sofiane Boufal was canceled by an early second-half strike by Mohammed Salah, and the Liverpool forward was involved again in creating the winner for Egypt in extra time as he set up Trezeguet.Morocco opened the scoring just six minutes in the game from the spot after Ayman Ashraf brought down Achraf Hakimi with a mistimed tackle that had initially been missed by the referee.It took the intervention of the VAR for the penalty to be awarded, with Sofiane Boufal stepping up to take the resultant kick and making no mistake from the spot as he sent the keeping one way and the ball the other.The record champions seemed unsettled in the first half, coming second in almost everything as Morocco kept pushing for a second through Boufal severally but it would not be the case.Ayman Ashraf could have redeemed himself after giving away the penalty but his shot from more than 20 yards was saved by Yassine Bounou in goal for Morocco to protect the lead.✅ 𝐒𝐄𝐌𝐈-𝐅𝐈𝐍𝐀𝐋𝐒 ✅🇪🇬 The Pharaohs are among the final four for the second time in the last three #TotalEnergiesAFCON editions!#TotalEnergiesAFCON2021 | #AFCON2021 | #TeamEgypt | @EFA pic.twitter.com/uLyo9HxMOO— #TotalEnergiesAFCON2021 🏆 (@CAF_Online) January 30, 2022 Mohammed Salah was mostly quiet in the first half, being notable mostly when Egypt won a corner but his deliveries caused the Moroccans less trouble as the two sides went into the break level.On resumption, Aston Villa’s midfielder Trezeguet came on to replace Ahmed Hegazy who seemed to have struggled towards the end of the first half with injury as Egypt pushed for an equalizer.It had to be Mohammed Salah with the equalizer for Egypt as he struck home from a rebound to make it 1-1 just eight minutes into the second half after Mohamed Abdelmonem’s header from a corner had been parried by Yassine Bounou.The Equalizer propelled Egypt and put them within reach of a semifinal spot and they pushed harder, coming first in almost every aspect of the game in the second half, perhaps thanks to the goal and the extra spark brought by the introduction of Trezeguet.🇪🇬 @trikaofficial 🤝 @MoSalah 🇪🇬 Mo Salah equals Mohamed Abotrika’s six goals in the #TotalEnergiesAFCON as he climbs towards the top of his nation’s goal-scoring chart. #TotalEnergiesAFCON2021 | #AFCON2021 | #TeamEgypt | @EFA pic.twitter.com/iTtLvjydf3— #TotalEnergiesAFCON2021 🏆 (@CAF_Online) January 30, 2022 Omar Marmoush could have given Egypt the lead just ten minutes after the equalizer but Morocco’s captain Romain Saiss exhibited superb defending as he slid in for the ball to deny the 22-year-old and keep the scores level.Things got heated up with 11 minutes left to play in regular time when Achraf Hakimi grabbed the shirt of Mostafa Mohamed after the latter brought the former down before almost everyone got involved in the altercation including some of Morocco’s bench players, ending in the two instigators getting booked.Morocco could have sealed the ticket 82 minutes in when Nayef Aguerd headed towards goal from close range but Mohamed Abo Gabal was keen in goal to deny him, having a touch enough to change the trajectory of the ball and bounce it off the woodwork into the field of play but the safe eventually claimed him as he picked an injury in the process.G⚽AL! #TeamEgypt 2-1 #TeamMorocco Trezeguet completes the comeback for the Pharaohs who are now in front!#TotalEnergiesAFCON2021 | #AFCON2021 | #EGYMAR pic.twitter.com/r3Cqx3qdkq— #TotalEnergiesAFCON2021 🏆 (@CAF_Online) January 30, 2022 Nothing could separate the two sides in regular time, and the match went into extra timing, with penalties seemingly being not a far-fetched thought.Six minutes into extra time, Mohamed Sobhi finally came on for the struggling Mohamed Abo Gabal who limped off having tried to play through the injury for more than 10 minutes.10 minutes in, Salah made one of his trademark runs down the right wing pulling three defenders with him before squaring the ball for Trezeguet who made no mistake as he slotted home to give Egypt the lead for the first time in the game.Achraf Hakimi could have leveled for Morocco from a freekick just outside the area but his effort went miles over the woodwork as the referee called for an end to the first 15 minutes.Egypt did their all to protect their lead in the final 15 minutes and could have buried the game in the final minute when Salah broke on the counter-attack with the goalkeeper being in the Egyptian half but the Pharaohs only managed to hit the side-netting.
