Salah scores as Egypt maintain perfect record

Mohamed Salah scored from a free-kick as host nation Egypt defeated Uganda 2-0 in Cairo Sunday to win Group A at the Africa Cup of Nations with a perfect three-win record. Pre-tournament favourites Egypt will remain in Cairo for the round of 16 and play one of the best four third-place finishers next Saturday. After prolific Liverpool scorer Salah put Egypt ahead against the run of play on 36 minutes, captain Ahmed Elmohamady added a second just before halftime.

Uganda had plenty of possession in both halves and often threatened to score without managing to put the ball in the net. Egypt topped the final standings with nine points and Uganda came next with four to also qualify automatically for the knockout phase. The Democratic Republic of Congo came third with three points after trouncing Zimbabwe 4-0 in another Cairo stadium. Elmohamady said: “Nine points out of three games is something Egypt is used to - the difficult part is what comes next.

“As of tomorrow, we will start to prepare, regardless of the team we will meet in the last 16. “We scored five goals in three matches and kept three clean sheets. For me these are good numbers.” Uganda were more impressive than Egypt for the first 30 minutes on a hot night at a packed 75,000-capacity Cairo International Stadium. Goal keeper Mohamed Elshenawy did well to push a sizzling, long-range Allan Kyambadde drive over at the expense of a corner.

Abdu Lumala was a constant threat for the Cranes and had a shot and a header saved in quick succession with the Pharaohs defence not its normal assured self. Salah then turned the tide toward the record seven-time African champions by lifting a free-kick over a defensive wall and past goalkeeper Denis Onyango into the corner of the net.