Egypt are through to the knockout phase of the Africa Cup of Nations after beating South Africa in a controversial Group B showdown on Friday.
Mohamed Salah’s penalty was enough for the seven-time AFCON winners to make it two wins from two in Morocco and progress to the round of 16 with a game to spare.
A cagey first half at the Adrar Stadium came to life inside the final five minutes when Egypt were awarded a controversial penalty when Salah was struck in the face by Khuliso Mudau.
The contact did appear to be accidental and a lack of appeal from Salah prompted surprise when play was paused for a VAR review.
Following a lengthy stoppage, referee Pacifique Ndabihawenimana went over to the pitchside monitor and after seeing the incident again, pointed to the penalty spot.
Salah, who scored a stoppage time winner for Egypt in their AFCON opener against Zimbabwe at the beginning of the week, kept his cool and produced a panenka to put his nation ahead.
No sooner were the Pharaohs ahead were they reduced to ten men after Mohamed Hany was sent-off for two bookable offences right on the stroke of half-time.
That decision gave Bafana Bafana the incentive to take the game to Egypt in the second half but they couldn’t find a way past Mohamed El Shenawy who used up all of his experience to keep his nation ahead.
The 38-year-old made fine saves to deny Mudau and Aubrey Modiba before bravely clawing the ball away from the former in the box following a knockdown by Lyle Foster.
South Africa appeared to be on course to salvage a point when there was a VAR review for the ball hitting Yasser Ibrahim’s hand on the line of the penalty box.
However, Ndabihawenimana decided it was not a penalty after reviewing the footage, and with that went Bafana Bafana’s hopes of extending their long unbeaten run.
This result means Egypt are guaranteed to finish top of Group B, meaning they will face one of the best third-placed teams from Group A, C or D.
Meanwhile, South Africa will seal their place in the knockout phase as runners-up by beating Zimbabwe in their final group stage game next week.
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