Mohamed Salah scored with the last kick in extra time to seal Egypt’s 3-1 win over Benin at Stade d’Agadir in the Morocco-hosted Africa Cup of Nations last 16.
The Pharaohs dug deep after being surprisingly held to 1-1 in normal time on Monday after Benin’s Jodel Dossou pounced on a rebound to level the football game in the 83rd minute.
Egypt dominated from the start but had to wait till the 69th before Marwan Attia finally made the breakthrough.
Attia was involved again when Yasser Ibrahim met his cross with a looping header to send the ball inside the top left corner in the seventh minute of extra time.
Salah had the final say on a counterattack, shooting past Benin goalkeeper Marcel Dandjinou from outside the penalty box after Zizo played him through. It was his third goal of the tournament.
Egypt’s team, which has played every game in Agadir, will stay in the coastal city for a quarterfinal on Saturday against Burkina Faso or defending champion Ivory Coast, who were meeting on Tuesday.
Benin’s solitary win in the group stage, 1-0 over Botswana, was enough to reach the last 16.
On Monday, Omar Marmoush broke through early on when Benin keeper Dandjinou emerged to stop him before he got any further. Dandjinou must have known he’d have a busy game.
Yohan Roche cleared off the line as the Pharaohs kept pushing forward. But Benin settled and stopped any other clear-cut chances. Marmoush and Salah both had efforts blocked.
Egypt was dealt a blow before the break when left back Mohamed Hamdy went off on a stretcher with what looked like a serious left knee injury after his foot connected with Dokou Dodo’s head. Dodo was OK to continue, but Hamdy covered his eyes as he was carried off while receiving well-wishes from teammates.
The breakthrough came when Mohamed Hany pulled the ball back behind the penalty area and Attia curled it inside the top left corner with the side of his boot.
But Dossou sent the game to extra time after goalkeeper Mohamed El Shenawy could only claw at a deflected goal-ward shot from Junior Olaitan.
The Pharaohs will have an extra day of rest before facing their next opponents as they bid for a record-extending eighth title.
Nigeria faced Mozambique in Fez later Monday. The Super Eagles were singing and dancing as they made their way into the stadium. The winner of that last 16 match will face a quarterfinal against Algeria or Congo, who were to play in Rabat on Tuesday.
Mali and Senegal will play the first quarterfinal on Friday, followed by host Morocco facing Cameroon.