"Some day, perhaps, Mohamed Salah will get the better of Sadio Mane in a major game, but not on Wednesday, not in the Africa Cup of Nations semi-final. When Senegal beat Egypt in a shootout in the 2021 Afcon final, Mane scored the winning penalty before Salah had the chance to take his. In the shootout in the qualifying playoff for the 2022 World Cup, Salah missed his effort and Mane scored the winning penalty."
"Semi-finals, notoriously, are not for the playing but the winning, but this was among the worst of its type. There were fouls, there was grappling, there was time-wasting, there was the feigning of injury, there were countless attempts to influence the referee, there were numerous explosions of faux outrage, there was a lot of sideways passing, and there was very little in terms of imagination or flair or quality."
"they had two-thirds of the ball but struggled to create clear chances. Eventually, though, as they worked the ball around the edge of the box, something was always likely to fall for them and sure enough it eventually did, Lamine Camara's shot hitting Hamdy Fathy and spinning to Mane who controlled it and, from just outside the box, hit a ferocious snapshot past Mohamed El Shenawy."
Sadio Mané scored the only goal twelve minutes from time to send Senegal into the final. He had previously beaten Mohamed Salah in decisive shootouts, including the 2021 Afcon final and a World Cup qualifying playoff. The semi-final was disrupted by fouls, grappling, time-wasting, feigned injuries and repeated attempts to influence the referee. Senegal held roughly two-thirds possession but struggled to fashion clear chances against an Egypt setup of three central defenders and two deep-lying midfielders. Lamine Camara's shot deflected to Mané, whose controlled strike beat Mohamed El Shenawy. Egypt's appeals for handball and offside were rejected.
Read at www.theguardian.com
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]