Egypt holds Eagles to draw in Kaduna

Nigeria’s quest for qualification to the 2017 Nations Cup suffered a huge blow on Friday as the Super Eagles were forced to a 1-1 draw by the Pharaohs of Egypt at the fully packed Ahmadu Bello Stadium in Kaduna.

Mohamed Salah slotted home in stoppage time to earn Egypt a point to cancel Warri Wolves midfielder, Oghenekaro Etebo’s goal in the 60th minutes.

After a not too impressive performance by both sides in the first half which ended goalless, Nigeria opened scoring as Kelechi Iheanacho’s delightful strike hit the crossbar, before Etebo stepped in front of Hamada Tolba to slot the rebound home.

Both teams wasted some many scoring chances but in the 84th minute, Hamada Tolba saved the game for Egypt with a crucial goal line clearance following a Victor Moses shot.

The referee signaled for three minutes of stoppage time. That was all the time Egypt needed; Ramadan Sobhy slotted a delightful through-ball into Mohamed Salah, who made no mistake from 12 yards.

The Pharaohs could have won the game in the third minute of stoppage time, but the referee inexplicably blew the whistle with Salah on the verge of a one-on-one with the Nigerian goalkeeper.

With the draw, Egypt remains on top of Group G with seven points, while Nigeria hold the second place position with five points. Tanzania is third with four, and Chad languishes with zero. The Pharaohs will host Nigeria on the 29th of March in Alexandria.

Lineups:

Egypt XI:

Ahmed El-Shennawy; Omar Gaber, Rami Rabia, Ahmed Hegazy, Hamada Tolba; Mohamed Elneny, Ibrahim Salah, Abdallah El-Said; Trezeguet, Koka, Mohamed Salah.

Nigeria XI:

Carl Ikeme; Stanly Amuzie, Efe Ambrose, Geoffrey Oboabona, Shehu Abdullahi; John Obi Mikel, Oghenekaro Etebo, Kelechi Iheanacho; Moses Simon, Ahmed Musa, Odion Ighalo.

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