Everything Liverpool fans should know about Mohamed Salah’s display in Egypt vs South Africa
Mohamed Salah was back in action on the international stage as the Liverpool star attempts to lead his team to the AFCON title.
Salah featured in Liverpool’s narrow win over Brighton before jetting out to the tournament, having recently patched his relationship with Reds boss Arne Slot back on Merseyside.
He followed up his assist in that game with the buzzer-beating winner against Zimbabwe on Monday, 22 December, before opening the scoring in their clash with South Africa on Friday, 26 December.
Ahead of the January transfer window, Salah is heavily linked with an Anfield exit, mainly due to his actions in recent weeks, but supporters at home will still be keen to see how he performs at AFCON.
Mohamed Salah fires Egypt into the lead vs South Africa
The 33-year-old fired his team ahead of the stroke of half-time, having won the spot-kick before having the guts to step up and dink it past the opposition goalkeeper.
Despite the magical moment, there was some debate over the awarding of the penalty. Khuliso Mudau had swung his arm out, catching the player in the face, but Salah had gone over rather easily.
It appeared that the Liverpool man had set his side up for success, but that was until teammate Mohamed Hany got himself sent off in added time at the end of the first half.
Unsurprisingly, after that moment, South Africa were fully on top, with Salah barely getting a sniff of the ball, and it was a very uninspiring second 45 minutes from the captain.
Liverpool star fails to set the right example despite AFCON win
The veteran was brought off in the 90th minute, just as South Africa looked as though they would be awarded a penalty, only for the decision to be overturned, and his legs were saved for the next game.
Victory ensured that Egypt had secured their spot in the knockout stages, but even with the only goal of the game, it was not the finest of performances from the Liverpool legend.
In 90 minutes, he created just one chance, had one shot, completed 50 per cent of his dribbles, was dispossessed three times, lost 67 per cent of his ground duels, and also committed two fouls [FotMob].
With Egypt down to 10 men, it would have been the perfect time for the winger to step up, but in all honesty, he disappeared into the shadows and should have been replaced much sooner.