Mohamed Salah's goalscoring return not enough as Egypt lose 3-1 to World Cup hosts Russia

Aditya Devavrat 00:39 20/06/2018
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  • Salah scored but it wasn't enough to save Egypt.

    Egypt’s World Cup hopes went up in smoke on Tuesday even as talismanic forward Mohamed Salah made his return from injury.

    The Liverpool man’s presence was not enough as the Pharaohs succumbed to a 3-1 defeat to hosts Russia that have left their chances of qualifying for the knockout stages hanging by a thread.

    Here’s a look at how the players rated.

    STARTING XI

    Mohamed El-Shenawy 5 – No danger of a man-of-the-match controversy this time – El-Shenawy came nowhere close to repeating the heroics he produced in Egypt’s first match.

    Ahmed Fathi 5 – Own goals can sometimes be unfortunate, but here Fathy was largely to blame. His poor attempt at a clearance opened the floodgates for Russia.

    Ali Gabr 4 – A poor display from the centre-back, as he wilted under the pressure from Russia’s free-flowing attack.

    Ahmed Hegazy 6 – The only Egypt defender who performed well on the night, although it wasn’t enough to hold his team together.

    Mohamed Shafy 5 – Struggled against the pace of Russia’s attackers, with Samedov and Cheryshev exposing him time and again.

    Mohamed Elneny 5 – After a standout performance against Uruguay, this was a let-down, as the Arsenal man displayed none of the control of midfield he had in the first game.

    Tarek Hamed 5 – Like colleague Elneny, Hamed went from an impressive performance against Uruguay to a poor one on Tuesday.

    Mohamed Salah 6 – An ineffective display from the Egyptian talisman, although perhaps it was asking too much for him to deliver in his first match back from injury. His penalty was expertly taken.

    Abdallah El Said 6 – Decent in possession, although didn’t provide enough penetration to help out Salah in attack.

    Trezeguet 5 – He’d looked like a real talent against Uruguay, but showed little of that here, failing to produce the flashes of skill he’s capable of.

    Marwan Mohsen 5 – Should have had a penalty in the second half that would have given Egypt the opportunity to make it 3-2. Did a poor job of holding up the ball and linking up play for the attack.

    SUBSTITUTES

    Amr Warda 5 – Would have been disappointed to be relegated to the bench after a strong performance in Egypt’s opener. Fluffed his lines when presented with a good chance late on.

    Ramadan Sobhi 5 – Didn’t make enough of an impact after coming on, although given Egypt were already 3-0 down at that point, it was asking a lot for him to change the game.

    Kahraba 5 – Had little time to make an impact after coming on as manager Hector Cuper’s last throw of the dice.

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