Egypt striker Mohamed Salah scored a stunning goal as the Pharaohs beat eSwatini 4-1 in their 2019 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier in Cairo on Friday.
The Liverpool striker took a corner-kick on the stroke of half-time and curled it directly into the net to put the Pharaohs 4-0 up going into the break.
As a result, the victory moves Egypt level on points with Tunisia in Group J.
Earlier goals from Ahmed Elmohamady, Amr Warda, Mahmoud Trezeguet and Mohamed Salah, in the seventh, 10th, 29th minutes respectively had given Egypt a comfortable lead.
Sihlangu Semnikati, though, never stopped fighting and netted an 84th-minute consolation through Sibonginkosi Gamedze for a timely boost ahead of the reverse fixture in Manzini on Tuesday.
Egypt has now netted 10 goals in their last two games.
Elsewhere, Manchester United’s beleaguered defender Eric Bailly fared better in an Ivory Coast top, helping the Elephants beat the Central African Republic 4-0 to revive their Group H campaign.
Aston Villa’s Jonathan Kodjia put Ivory Coast ahead before Bailly made it 2-nil. Cheick Doukoure and Maxwell Cornet added to the scoreline to give Ivory Coast a much-needed victory.
They are now second in the group behind Guinea who was 2-0 winners over Rwanda courtesy of a first-half Francois Kamano penalty and a goal from Ibrahima Cisse.
African champions Cameroon edged past Malawi 1-0 to earn Dutch coach Clarence Seedorf his first win in charge of the Indomitable Lions.
See Friday’s Africa Cup of Nations qualifying results:
Grp B: Cameroon 1-0 Malawi – Grp I: Angola 4-1 Mauritania
Grp C: Gabon 3-0 South Sudan – Grp H: Guinea 2-0 Rwanda
Grp L: Cape Verde 3-0 Tanzania – Grp H: Ivory Coast 4-0 CAR
Grp J: Egypt 4-1 eSwatini- Grp D: Togo 1-1 Gambia
Grp C: Mali 0-0 Burundi – Grp D: Algeria 2-0 Benin
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