In-form Mame Biram Diouf and Sadio Mane scored in the first half to hand the Teranga Lions a perfect start in the journey towards a place at next year’s Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco.
The Senegalese made their dominance from the onset count against a new look Egyptian team that struggled in search of their feet throughout the game.
After being denied by Egypt goalie Sherif Ekramy on 16 minutes, Dame N’Doye turned provider a minute later, squaring Diouf, who fire past onrushing Ekramy for the opener.
The hosts continued to dominate and succeeded in doubling the lead on the stroke of half time through petit midfielder, Sane. N’Doye was yet again involved providing the assist to Mane, who dinked over Ekramy for a two-goal cushioning.
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Substitute Amr Gamal brought some bite into the Pharaohs attack which probed for a goal. On 71 minutes, Senegal captain Bounda Coundoul denied Gamal with a superb save off the Ahly forward’s screamer.
The Senegalese held on to cruise to a famous victory against the record seven-time African champions. The Teranga Lions travel next to Gaborone where they face Botswana on Wednesday whilst Egypt battles Tunisia in Cairo.
Reactions
Alain Giresse (Coach, Senegal)
“It's good to start with this victory. We mastered the first half but in the second we were excited. We were most effective in the first period. Egypt was more dangerous in the second half after we slowed down.
Shawky Gharib (Coach, Egypt)
“We have a young team learning to play together. It will take patience for these boys who still lack finesse. It's hard to put together a team composed entirely of players based locally because many things are off in the country for some time. Tonight we lost against a great team of Senegal, more seasoned. This is just the start of the qualifiers; we have to focus on the game next Wednesday against Tunisia. Nothing is lost.”