Unfortunately for Egypt and Arsenal fans, Mohamed Elneny’s Egypt were knocked out of the Africa Cup Of Nations last night by DR Congo in what was a thrilling game that ended coming down to penalties. In what was a somewhat shock defeat as Egypt were one of the favourites to win the whole tournament, it was a game that was action packed and a game where we got to see a lot of Elneny.
Elneny’s Egypt started off the game well, but DR Congo looked to be the more lively team and were creating a lot more chances in the early stages of the game and just before the 40th minute mark they would be able to punish Egypt after a crossed ball from DR Congo was deflected towards the back post where Meschack Elia was in the perfect place to head the ball into the back of the net to make it 1-0 to DR Congo.
But it didn’t take long for Egypt to get one back just before half time after a penalty was awarded to Egypt after a DR Congo player had elbowed Hagazy in the head and the ref pointed to the spot. Mostafa Mohamed stepped up to the spot and fired the ball into the top corner, putting Egypt back on level terms just before half time.
The second half was mostly DR Congo dominating and getting chances and Egypt were starting to look very tired. Full time whistle came, and the scores were still level, meaning we headed into extra time. Only 7 minutes into extra time and Egypt were dealt with a harsh blow as Mohamed Hamdi picked up his second yellow card and was sent off, leaving a tired Egypt down to just 10 men.
Extra time continued but DR Congo couldn’t seem to take advantage of the 10 men and couldn’t find the net, which ultimately led us to penalties. The Egyptian manager taking off the Arsenal midfielder just before the penalties.
Both sides ended up with only their keepers left to shoot and the Egyptian keeper went first and ended up hitting the crossbar and missing, leaving the DR Congo keeper to just need to score and he did, knocking Egypt out and putting DR Congo through to the quarter finals.
Elneny personally had a massive game, playing 112 minutes all up and was pushing hard the entire match. Coming close to a goal early in the first half but then began to see a bit less of the ball but was defending incredibly. Making 71 touches throughout the game and walking away with 59/62 (95%) accurate passes, he was a big part of their midfield. Winning 5 out of 5 ground duels and was trying to use his experience to lead his country to a win. Elneny will now come back to club football where he will be welcomed back by his teammates and the club.
Takehiro Tomiyasu’s Japan will play on Wednesday morning as they face Bahrain in the knockout stages of the AFC Asian Cup, Japan will be expected to win against Bahrain and with a win could see the go through to the quarter finals against either Syria or Iran.
Daisy Mae
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