March 25, (THEWILL) – Egypt played to a comfortable 2-0 victory over Malawi in their 2023 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier at the 30 June Stadium in Cairo on Friday night.
Egypt’s Mohamed Salah opened the scoring midway through the first half, before an own-goal from Charles Petro sealed the win just before halftime. Rui Vitoria’s side moved to the top of Group D with the win ahead of the clash between the other group teams Ethiopia and Guinea on the same night, while Malawi dropped to third place.
Egypt dominated from the start, with Mohamed Abdelmonem hitting the crossbar with a header from an eighth-minute free-kick. Salah then played Mohamed Hamdy into space on the left and timed his run to perfection to convert the left-back’s pass from 10 yards out, scoring the opening goal for Egypt. Malawi had a few chances but failed to convert, and the Pharaohs extended their lead just before halftime when a mistake on the left side of Malawi’s defence led to an own-goal from Charles Petro.
Malawi tried to get more physical in the second half but Egypt remained in control, with Mahmoud Hamada firing wide of the right post and Abdelmonem directing a header straight at the Malawi goalkeeper from a corner.
Gabadinho Mhango wasted a good chance for Malawi when he blasted a free-kick well wide of the near post, and Egypt almost added a third late on when Ahmed Abdelkader escaped his marker on the left byline and got off a shot from an acute angle that was saved by the Malawi goalkeeper.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
