Mo Salah scores but Saudi Arabia fight back to beat Egypt 2-1

Updated: May 17, 2023, 05:29 am

Saudi Arabia scored a dramatic 95th-minute winner to beat Egypt 2-1 and finish their World Cup campaign on a high in Volgograd.

Egypt took the lead in the 22nd minute as Mohamed Salah scored a delightful goal, his second of the tournament. Abdallah El Said played a long ball over the top and Salah needed just two touches, the second lifting it past Yasser Al-Mosailem.

It could have been two just a couple of minutes later when Trezeguet sent Salah clean through, but his chipped finish went horribly wide. It looked like he might have been just offside, however, so VAR would most probably have ruled it out. And Trezeguet was then left in acres of space but, from Salah's set-up, curled wide of the post.

Saudi Arabia should have been level five minutes before the break when Ahmed Fathy was penalised for handball just inside the box, even though the ball was fired at him from close range. Fahad Al Muwallad stepped up to take the resulting spot kick, but Essam El-Hadary -- who at the age of 45 became the oldest player to ever play in a World Cup finals game -- was equal to the powerful effort and pushed it onto the bar before Egypt scrambled away.

AP Photo/Andrew Medichini

But they did level from the spot at the second attempt six-minutes into first-half stoppage time when Ali Gabr was adjudged to have pushed Al-Muwallad over inside the area. VAR advised referee Wilmar Roldan to take another look at the incident but, in a first for VAR, and after a long review, he stayed with his original decision and this time Salman Al-Faraj sent El-Hadary the wrong way.

The winner came just after the allotted four minutes of stoppage time had elapsed, Abdullah Otayf playing a neat pass to Al-Dawsari who brilliant finished first time into the opposite corner.