The Russian hosts continue to mesmerize their home fans, as a convincing 3-1 victory over Egypt has all but secured a spot in the knockout stage of the tournament. In a closely fought contest, it took an own goal from Egyptian captain Ahmed Fahty in the 47th minute to release the shackles from the relentless Russian attack. Denis Cheryshev added to the Russian lead in the 59th minute, scoring his third goal of the competition, after a fantastic assist from right-back Mario Fernandes.
The hosts went on to take an insurmountable 3-0 lead in the 62nd minute, courtesy of a clinical finish from their striker Artem Dzyuba. Mohamed Salah then went on to convert a 73rd-minute penalty, merely a consolation goal for the ambitious North Africans, who will now be eliminated from Group A, should Uruguay avoid losing to the underdogs from Saudi-Arabia. Their first tournament goal is presumably the only encouragement the Pharaohs can take from a rough night in Saint Petersburg, as we look at three things that went wrong for Egypt in last night’s contest at FIFA World Cup 2018.
3 Poor Possession Play
An aspect of the Egyptian game that was always going to be a wild-card in this game, was how they would deal with the longer possession phases.
While Uruguay were happy to take charge of the opening game, the Pharaohs were inclined to do so themselves, if they wanted to be successful against the hosts in Saint Petersburg.
2 Lacklustre Defending
After one of the strongest defensive efforts we’ve seen at this year’s World Cup against Uruguay, the Egyptians failed to find any of their characteristic resilience against effective hosts in Saint Petersburg.
While Ahmed Fahti’s own goal was the logical result of a poor punch from goalkeeper Mohamed El Shenawy and an even worst tackle from the captain, the writing was on the wall for the Pharaohs for quite some time.
1 Woeful Salah
Finally, it’s time to address the elephant in the room. Salah went completely missing last night, despite the Egyptian hopes largely resting on his shoulders.
While the wizard himself couldn’t reproduce his fantastic form at club level, it’s his tactical role in the African team, that is truly puzzling.
When watching Ronaldo for Portugal, Messi for Argentina or even Gareth Bale for Wales, the centre-pieces of so-called ‘one-man-teams’, you can see them begging for the ball. They move deeper and deeper, even into their own half, to get their team going and initiate their teams’ attacks.