Egypt and Liverpool star Mohamed Salah wrote the final line in the final minute to give Egypt an exciting 3-2 home win over Tunisia in their African qualifier contender. An end-to-end affair on Friday in Alexandria looked as though it was heading for a draw but Salah, who was somewhat quiet until then, sent fans at Borg Al-Arab Stadium into raptures with a brilliant finish. It was a game between two countries which had already qualified for the Africa Cup of Nations to be held in Cameroon next year. The Pharaohs and Tunisia are now atop their group with 12 points each after five matches with one game remaining. eSwatini and Niger have played only four games but with just one point apiece and since only the top two teams in Group J advance, they cannot catch up. Egypt's last group game will be in Niger in March next year while Tunisia will play eSwatini which was known as Swaziland until it changed its name in April this year. Under the guidance of their Mexican Head Coach Javier Aguirre, Egypt's first three matches ended with comfortable wins over Niger and eSwatini (twice). Friday's win was some compensation for Egypt. Tunisia had defeated Egypt 1-0 in their opening qualifier in June 2017. Egypt's coach then was the Argentine Hector Cuper. Also, Esperance of Tunisia defeated Egypt's Ahly in the final of the African Champions League earlier this month. Tunisia opening the scoring with a goal on the 13th minute through Naim Sliti but the Egyptians answered back not too late in the first half following an attack by winger Mahmoud Trezeguet and a header from defender Baher Al-Mohamadi to end the first half in a 1-1 draw. Egypt took the lead in the second half, a second goal on the hour mark when Al-Mohamadi rose unmarked to head home from close range after an inviting free kick from PAOK winger Amr Warda. Sliti netted again to equalise 2-2. Salah had the last word at the death, playing a one-two with Salah Mohsen, skipping past his challenger with a brilliant piece of individual skill before chipping the ball over the keeper with his left foot. The goal took Salah's tally to 39 international goals to move third in Egypt's all-time top scorers list, 30 goals behind former Ahly and Zamalek striker Hossam Hassan. After the match, Tunisia's interim coach Mourad Okbi was quoted saying said he would lodge a complaint against Aguirre over an inappropriate gesture the Mexican made during the game. Television cameras caught Aguirre making an obscene arm gesture after Mahmoud Trezeguet scored. “We will lodge an official complaint against Aguirre because of the gesture that was shown on television, it's an inappropriate gesture,” Okbi told the post-match news conference. “The result favoured Egypt, but we played well. We wasted a chance towards the end and we conceded the third goal immediately after,” Okbi said. “But we were not good defensively and that's why we lost tonight.” Under Aguirre's guidance, Egypt crushed Niger 6-0 and defeated eSwatini 4-1 and 2-0 home and away respectively to seal passage to next year's Nations Cup finals in Cameroon with two games to spare in Group J. They showed an attacking flair in Friday's win over Tunisia. “We played four matches in which we scored 15 times and conceded only four goals. This is evidence of how strong our team is,” Aguirre told a post-match news conference. “We adopt now more offensive tactics,” he added, having been lauded by many of the critics who often questioned the conservative tactics of his predecessor Cuper. “We started the game in a very good way but we conceded a goal because of a mistake. I spoke to the players and told them to stay focused. We tackled the mistakes in the break and we won,” he said. In other group qualifiers, Morocco are almost certain to be among the finalists at next year's Africa Cup of Nations after a second-half brace from Ajax Amsterdam midfielder Hakim Ziyech brought a 2-0 win over Cameroon in Casablanca on Friday. With Cameroon qualifying automatically from Group B as hosts, Morocco has a six-point advantage over Malawi for the other qualifying place. Malawi will have to win away to out-of-contention Comoros and then achieve an unlikely four-goal home victory over the Moroccans next March to finish second. Ziyech converted a 54th-minute penalty to put the Atlas Lions ahead and netted again on 66 minutes. Cameroon, suffering their first loss in four matches since Dutch coach Clarence Seedorf took charge, were reduced to 10 men on 80 minutes when Karl Toko Ekambi was sent off. In Juba, Burundi climbed above Mali and Gabon to top Group C with a 5-2 win over South Sudan as Fiston Abdul-Razak scored four goals. A close first half ended with the Burundians leading 2-1 as Razak scored, Atak Lual equalised and Cedric Amissi put the east Africans ahead a second time. Dominic Aboy brought bottom team South Sudan level again before Razak netted three times in 11 minutes for Burundi, who are seeking a first Cup of Nations appearance. Burundi have nine points, Mali eight, Gabon seven and South Sudan none with the second and third-place teams meeting later in Libreville. The top two finishers qualify and a Malian victory over Gabon would assure them of a place in the 15 June to 13 July tournament.
