Roma winger, Mohamed Salah, scored a 90th minute equaliser to earn the Pharaohs of Egypt a 1-1 draw against Nigeria on Friday at the Ahmadu Bello Stadium in Kaduna.
The Super Eagles defence completely went to sleep in the final stages of the game giving room to the former Chelsea man to capitalise and strike home a killer goal.
Oghenekaro Etebo struck in the 59th minute to give Nigeria the lead.
Samson Siasia preferred Etebo in the middle of the pack alongside skipper John Obi Mikel while Kelechi Iheanacho, Moses Simon and Ahmed Musa played behind Odion Ighalo.
Expectedly, Efe Ambrose and Godfrey Oboabona started at centre back while Stanley Amuzie and Shehu Abdullahi were in the full-back positions.
Nigeria started brightly with Musa producing a solo run as early as the second minute, finding Simon who caused pandemonium in the opposing backline but goalkeeper Ahmed El- Shennawy palmed the ball to safety.
The Eagles continued their dominance with Musa and Moses both terrorising the North Africans
In the 18 minute, Carl Ikeme produced a fantastic save after Ambrose’s second howler in just three minutes.
At the stroke of half time, Manchester City striker Iheanacho forced Zamalek goalkeeper El- Shennawy into another delightful save.
The two African giants went into halftime tied 0-0, but Nigeria were by far the more threatening side.
Neither manager made any halftime substitutions. Three minutes into the second half, Watford striker Ighalo’s acrobatic effort just went wide of El-Shennawy’s goal.
Nigeria continued to control the second half proceedings, with Egypt attempting to take advantage via counter attacks.
In the 60th minute, the Super Eagles’ dominance finally amounted to a goal. Iheanacho’s delightful strike hit the crossbar, before Etebo stepped in front of Hamada Tolba to slot the rebound home.
Siasia’s team had several goal scoring chances but Hamada Tolba saved the game for Egypt with a crucial goal line clearance following a shot from Victor Moses who had come in for Musa.
The referee signalled for three minutes of stoppage time. That was all the time Egypt needed; Ramadan Sobhy slotted a delightful through ball into Salah, who made no mistake from 12 yards.
With the draw, Egypt remain top of Group G with seven points, while Nigeria hold on to second place position with five points. Tanzania is third with four, and Chad languishes with zero. The Pharaohs will host Nigeria on March 29 in Alexandria.
