Egypt and Ghana played to an entertaining 2-2 draw in their Africa Cup of Nations Group B encounter on Thursday night.
Rui Vitoria made three changes from the Pharaohs side that started the nervy stalemate with Mozambique in Omar Kamal, Omar Marmoush and Emam Ashour, while Chris Houghton gave Inaki Williams, Abdul Samed and Mohammed Kudus their maiden starts of the tournament.
Egypt were keen to hit the mark very early on in the proceedings, but didn’t provide the accuracy and penetration in the closing third.
The Pharaohs’ approach took a twist before halftime as skipper Salah, was forced off with an injury and was replaced by Mostafa Fathi.
Ghana utilised the scenario to good effect when Kudus showed quick feet to evade two challengers to thump into the bottom-corner from the edge of the box.
Vitoria’s men looked to have gone level after halftime through a tap-in by Ahmed Hegazi following a curling free-kick, but unfortunately it didn’t stand due to an offside.
Marmoush retrieved possession in a promising area before pulling wide to the far post to shape a shot and draw a stupendous save off Richard Ofori.
A huge error by the Black Stars in the final 20 minutes saw Marmoush intercept a back-pass by Williams to round Ofori and slot into an empty net from a tight angle.
Kudus turned up in less than a minute when he combined with Denis Odoi on the right to nudge a move and curl through a diving Mohamed El-Shenawy.
It became a goal-fest as the Pharaohs levelled after Mostafa Mohamed latched onto Marmoush’s cutback to poke in the near corner.
With time ticking away, the Black Stars and Pharaohs couldn’t be separated and they were forced to settle for a share of the spoils, leaving both nations winless after two matches.
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