Egypt kept their hopes of an eighth Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) title alive with a thrilling 3-2 victory over Ivory Coast at Stade Adrar.
Egypt were keen to make an early statement, and they did just that as they took the lead with only four minutes on the clock. Emam Ashour’s pass into the area appeared to be wayward, but Omar Marmoush won a 50-50 before poking the ball past Yahia Fofana to give the Pharaohs an early lead.
Despite falling behind, the visitors were competing very well in the opening exchanges, with Evann Guessand heading just wide of the right post after meeting a ball into the area.
Ivory Coast were very much on top in the first half when it came to possession and pressure, but they found themselves two goals behind just after the half-hour mark. Mohamed Salah’s corner picked out Ramy Rabia, and the defender sent his header looping into the top right-hand corner of the net to make it 2-0.
The Elephants deserved a goal for their first-half showing, and they found one five minutes before the break when a free-kick into the area was diverted into the net by the unfortunate Ahmed Fatouh.
Having got back into the contest shortly before half-time, Ivory Coast ensured they were very much in the game as the second half got underway. However, just five minutes after the restart, they found themselves two goals behind for a second time when Ashour played a ball across the area to Salah, who poked it past Fofana to leave the Elephants with a mountain to climb.
A grandstand finish was ensured when Guela Doué forced the ball home from a corner, but despite Ivory Coast’s overall dominance, they were unable to make the most of their superiority as Egypt held on to book their place in the AFCON semi-finals, leaving the Elephants to ponder what might have been after an impressive overall display.
Egypt will now face Senegal for a place in the final on Wednesday.
