Egypt beat South Africa to advance to knockout round of AFCON

Mohamed Salah scored a first-half penalty as Egypt defeated South Africa 1-0 in their Africa Cup of Nations Group B clash in Agadir on Friday, securing their place as the first team into the knockout stages despite playing with 10 men for the entire second half.

Egypt have six points from their opening two games and cannot finish outside of the top two in the group. South Africa have three points from their two matches, while Zimbabwe and Angola each have one point after drawing 1-1 earlier in the day.

Salah won the penalty when he was clipped in the face by South Africa defender Khuliso Mudau as they challenged for the ball in the box, then stepped up to convert confidently for his second goal of the tournament.

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Egypt’s task became significantly harder when right-back Mohamed Hany was sent off for an ugly stamp just before halftime. The 10 men faced wave after wave of South African attacks in the second period, with the visitors denied a penalty of their own for handball following a lengthy VAR check.

In the day’s earlier Group B fixture, Angola and Zimbabwe each earned their first point at the tournament following a 1-1 draw, though the result leaves both facing early elimination. Having lost their opening matches, both teams now face difficult assignments in their final group games next week, which they will effectively need to win to progress.

Angola took the lead in the 24th minute when Tó Carneiro’s chipped pass fell perfectly for striker Gelson Dala, who ran onto it and squeezed the ball in at the near post as Zimbabwe’s defence proved too slow to react.

The match was briefly halted when Angola goalkeeper Hugo Marques suffered a cut above his eye in a clash of heads with Zimbabwe’s Divine Lunga. After being bandaged, he continued but conceded an equalizer deep in first-half stoppage time when Zimbabwe veteran Knowledge Musona scored.

Angola defender David Carmo produced two crucial goal-line clearances in the space of a minute late in the match. First, he cleared after Zimbabwe substitute Tawanda Chirewa’s shot was saved by Marques and spun back towards goal. From the resulting corner, Carmo denied Gerald Takwara at the back post with a timely interception.

Angola now face group leaders Egypt in Agadir on Monday, while Zimbabwe take on neighbours South Africa in Marrakech at the same time.