Ghana let off lead twice to draw with Egypt at AFCON

• Egypt and Ghana played to a 2-2 draw
• Mohamed Kudus scored twice for Ghana
• The two sides remain winless after two matches

Ghana twice let off a lead as Mostafa Mohamed scored a 74^th minute equalizer, Egypt twice coming from behind to play to a thrilling 2-2 draw with the Black Stars in their second Group B match at the Africa Cup of Nations.

Mohamed Kudus, returning to the starting team after missing the first game through injury, scored twice for the Black Stars, but it wasn’t enough to drag at least three points for the Ghanaians, as an error at the back led to a Mostafa goal.

Ghana’s head coach Chris Hughton was disappointed with the draw, saying his side deserved more especially with how they played.

“We will continue to fight. It is true that at the moment there is a lot of frustration in the locker room. Our team deserved more, but football is like that. It’s frustrating. In a similar performance, we would surely have won. Two errors cost us the match. We didn’t take this opportunity to take the three points,” the tactician said after the game.

Hughton’s mind is now on Mozambique, the Black Stars’ next opponent.

Ghana focus on every match seriously 

Ghana coaches led by Chris Hughton observe training. PHOTO/Ghana FA

“There are no more small teams in Africa. We are preparing for a tough match against them. The calculations are already made, we need a victory to pursue our dream and I know we are capable of it.” he concluded.

For Egypt, more worrying than their drop of two points once again was the fact that star striker Mo Salah had to limp off injured in first half added time.

Coach Rui Vitoria said they will assess the Liverpool FC star, though they are optimistic it is not a major problem and he should be available for their final match of the group.

“At the moment, I cannot comment on the seriousness of his injury. Of course, we are worried and we hope it is not too serious. We will have to keep the same state of mind for the next match against Cape Verde,” said the coach.

Looking back at the game, the tactician wears a brave face and believes they can improve in their third match despite back to back draws.

“I have full confidence in my team, I saw men this evening who fought to the end only victory eluded us. We showed great qualities this evening against a revitalized Ghana. The players applied our instructions perfectly. There was room to win the match,” the tactician said.

Egypt conceded just a minute after Salah limping off, Kudus scoring with a brilliant shot from distance after battling through two markers.

In the second half, Egypt thought they had drawn a goal back six minutes in through Mohamed Abdelmoneim, but it was ruled out for offside by VAR.

Kudus does the job again for Ghana 

They continued pushing and Omar Marmoush was denied by a brilliant save from Richard Ofori in Ghana’s goal as the Pharaohs pounded more.

Marmoush finally got his goal in the 69^th minute when Marmoush rounded the keeper and tapped into an empty net after intercepting a backpass.

Ghana however went back into the lead just two minutes later when Kudus completed his brace, his curling shot from inside the box deflecting off Abdelmoneim to take it off keeper Mohamed Elshenawy’s path.

But Ghana would pay the price of sloppiness at the back once again in the 74^th minute when Trezeguet stole the ball off Osman Bukari on the left and cut back a cross that Mostafa tapped home.