Omar Marmoush struck the opener and Mohamed Salah scored the clincher as Egypt ended defending champions Ivory Coast’s reign with a narrow 3-2 triumph in Saturday’s Africa Cup of Nations quarter-final.
Centre back Rami Rabia was the other scorer for the Egyptians, who had little possession at the Grande Stade Agadir, but took their chances with clinical precision and held on to book a semi-final meeting with Senegal on Wednesday.
An own goal from Ahmed Fatouh and a late effort by Guela Doue proved insufficient for the Ivory Coast, winners of the tournament on home soil two years ago but now deposed as African champions.
Egypt, who have won a record seven Cup of Nations titles, wasted little time in taking the lead as Marmoush scored in the fourth minute after Hamdi Fathy pinched the ball from Franck Kessie in the midfield, allowing Emam Ashour to thread a pinpoint ball to the sprinting Marmoush. He still needed to shrug off the attentions of defender Odilon Kossounou before slotting home.
But it quickly became clear the Ivorians were going to dominate possession, showing much more physical strength on the ball but without setting up clear chances.
Egypt went 2-0 up in the 32nd minute when Rabia rose above the defenders to head his side further ahead from a corner.
The Ivory Coast, who had 70 per cent of the ball in the first half, reduced the deficit eight minutes later when teenager Yann Diomande’s free-kick near the corner took a slight brush off Kossounou’s head and ricocheted off the knee of full back Fatouh and into the net.
The Ivorians had come from 2-0 down to beat Gabon 3-2 earlier in the tournament, but any hopes of turning the scoreline around were hit further by a simply created but superbly finished goal for Salah seven minutes after the break.
Rabia was well inside his own half when he chipped the ball over the top of the Ivorian defensive line, allowing Ashour to run on to it and hit an accurate pass with the outside of his right boot into the path of Salah to score.
An Ivorian comeback was still on when Doue touched home at the end of a goalmouth scramble in the 73rd minute. That set up a siege of the Egyptian goal in the final 15 minutes but they held out to advance.
“It was a perfect win, but as I said before, we are fighting for our country,” Salah said afterwards. “Hopefully we go through the next game as well, it's against a tough opponent, but we will give our best.
“We are fighting so hard, you can see the players, nobody is holding anything. We are just carrying on.”
Nigerian firepower on display
Earlier on Saturday, Nigeria overpowered Algeria 2-0 in Marrakesh and will take on hosts Morocco in the other semi-final.
Strikers Victor Osimhen and Akor Adams grabbed second-half goals to set up a meeting with the hosts.
Osimhen steered home a long cross from the left by Bruno Onyemaechi two minutes into the second half as Algeria goalkeeper Luca Zidane made a bizarre jump to try to stop the effort but ended up getting his angles wrong and conceding an easy goal.
Adams increased Nigeria’s lead 10 minutes later as Osimhen unselfishly fed him the ball and he took it round Zidane before placing it into an empty net.
It was an impressive performance by Nigeria, who two months ago missed out on World Cup qualification, as they overwhelmed their opponents from the start at the Grand Stade de Marrakesh, looking more determined, quicker around the field and stronger in the challenges, and denying their opponents a single chance.
“The victory was deserved. The match was fantastic, and I am very happy with the win,” said Nigeria coach Eric Chelle.
That was a view shared by Algeria coach Victor Petkovic, who admitted: “I don’t want to go into too many details, but Nigeria were better. The Nigerian team showed the individual skills they possess, and physically we were behind. We tried to come back in the second half, but we couldn’t reach the level we needed in attack.”
Nigeria's clash against Morocco takes place in Rabat on Wednesday (midnight kick-off UAE). Earlier on Wednesday, Egypt take on Senegal in Tangier (9pm UAE). The final is in Rabat next Sunday.
