Egypt beat Ghana 1-0 on Wednesday evening courtesy Mohamed Salah’s free kick to reached the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations quarter finals as Group D winners.
The Pharaohs were awarded a free kick on the edge of the box after Abdallah El-Said was fouled by John Boye.
AS Roma winger Mohamed Salah stepped up and hammered the ball past the wall, sending it into the top corner to give Egypt the lead after 10 minutes.
After the goal, the Black Stars intensified pressure and started to dominate the midfield as they were seeking to level the score. Afful crossed the ball to Christian Atsu whose header went off target, before Gyan headed a corner over the bar.
The Black Stars captain Asamoah Gyan picked a knock in the first half and had to be replaced by Aston Villa’s striker Jordan Ayew.
Ayew could have pulled parity for the Black Stars after he excellent dribbled the ball past two defenders but the Egyptian experience goalie El-Hadary came to their rescue with a superb save.
Twenty minutes to full-time, Egypt made their first substitution, as Hector Cuper brought on Mahmoud Kahrab to replace Mohsen, before Amr Warda replaced El-Said five minutes later.
Egypt, however, managed to keep their composure and maintain their 1-0 lead.
Ghana will on Sunday play DR Congo at the quarter-final stage of the competition whilst Egypt take on their North African compatriots Morocco.
Ghana XI Vrs Egypt:
Razak Brimah
Andy Yiadom
Harrison Afful
Jonathan Mensah
John Boye
Daniel Amartey
E. Agyemang-Badu/ Mubarak Wakaso
Andrew Ayew
Christian Atsu
Samuel Tetteh/ Bernard Tekpetey
Asamoah Gyan/ Jordan Ayew
