Egypt defeated Libya 3-0 away from home to become closer than ever to reach the final stage of the CAF 2022 World Cup qualifiers.
A narrow 1-0 victory at Borg El-Arab put Egypt top of the group with seven points, one more than neighboring country Libya as both teams faced each other once again just three days later.
Carlos Queiroz named an unchanged starting XI for the Benghazi clash, with Omar Marmoush keeping his spot at the left wing with Mostafa Mohamed and Mohamed Salah leading the attack.
In the 40th minute, the deadlock was broken through Ahmed Fetouh, who received Mostafa Mohamed’s pass inside the edge of the box, before finding the left bottom corner.
Egypt needed just eight more minutes to add their second of the night, this time through Mostafa Mohamed who turned in Omar Marmoush’s inch-perfect cross with a brilliant header to make it 2-0 just a few seconds before the half-time whistle.
In the 72nd minute, Mohamed Salah went on a solo run before playing Ramadan Sobhi through on goal and the Pyramids FC winger dinked the ball over the keeper to make it 3-0.
The victory kept Egypt top of the group with 10 points, four ahead of second-placed Libya, with Gabon sitting third with four points ahead of bottom-placed Angola, who only have three points.
Egypt will next face Angola away from home on November 13, before facing Gabon at Borg El-Arab three days later. The Pharaohs need just three points from these two games to guarantee themselves a spot in the final round.