AFCON 2017: Pharaohs strike late to share spoils with Super Eagles

Gabon

Mohamed Salah’s 91st minute strike was enough to rescue a point for Egypt away to Nigeria in their 2017 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier on Friday.

The Super Eagles had taken the lead on the hour mark through Warri Wolves striker Etebo Oghenekaro.

The draw means that Egypt remain on top of the group with seven points and Nigeria stay second with five.

The failure of Samson Siasia’s men to win in Kaduna makes the Cairo affair in four days an even more herculean task, as Nigerians would not want to be absent from the Gabon showpiece.

Ivory Coast captained by Gervinho, pipped Sudan 1-0 to move top of Group I, thanks to the captain’s 34th minute strike.

Youssef Msakni’s strike in Tunis was enough for the Carthage Eagles to see off Togo by a solitary goal after all the security concerns that the Togolese had raised ahead of the fixture.

Gabon (hosts of the AFCON) beat Sierra Leone in the group’s other match. However, the points from that match do not count because Gabon are hosts of the 2017 tournament and their group games are classified as friendlies, according to BBC Sport.

In Group M, Mauritania beat The Gambia 2-1 thanks a to a brace by Cheikh Moulaye Khalil, as Swaziland and Zimbabwe played out a 1-1 draw in Group L while Guinea and Malawi played out a barren draw.

Thursday Fixtures

In Thursday matches, Comoros ended a 3,084-day wait for a first competitive international football victory when they beat visiting Botswana 1-0 Thursday in a 2017 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier.

Meanwhile, flamboyant former Everton and Liverpool defender Abel Xavier made a losing debut as a national team coach when Mozambique fell 3-1 in Ghana.

Liberia won 1-0 in Djibouti and Madagascar were held 1-1 at home by the Central African Republic in other games.

Ben Mohamed was the toast of the Comoros side, a group of islands off the south-east coast of the continent, who are ranked 26 places below Botswana in Africa.

His goal on 56 minutes ended a 20-match winless run in World Cup and Cup of Nations qualifiers since 2007, when they were thrashed 6-2 by Madagascar in their first competitive international.

AFCON 2017 QUALIFIERS RESULTS

FRIDAY 25 MATCH 2016

Guinea 0 – 0 Malawi
Tunisia1 – 0 Togo
Ivory Coast 1 – 0 Sudan
Mauritania 2 – 1Gambia
Nigeria1 – 1 Egypt
Gabon2 – 1 Sierra Leone
Swaziland 1 – 1 Zimbabwe

THURSDAY 24 MARCH 2016

Ghana 3 – 1 Mozambique
Djibouti 0 – 1 Liberia
Comoros 1 – 0 Botswana
Madagascar 1 – 1 Central African Republic
Guinea-Bissau1 – 0 Kenya
Zambia1 – 1 Congo
Sao Tome 2 – 1 Libya