Egypt maintained a 100% winning record under Héctor Cúper by winning in Chad 5-1 in their second 2017 AFCON qualifier, behind a Bassem Morsi perfect hattrick.

First half:

In what was to be a sign of things to come, the Pharaohs began the game even better than they would have probably imagined. After two minutes, Bassem Morsi broke the deadlock by taking advantage of a blunder by Chad goalkeeper following a cross by his Zamalek teammate Kahraba.

Three minutes later, El-Shennawy was called into action as he expertly parried a shot from Mahamat to maintain Egypt’s early lead. The next ten minutes featured Les Sao attacking, while the Pharaohs sat back and used the speed of their talented quartet of Salah, Morsi, Sobhy, and Kahraba to hit their opponents on the counter.

The game plan almost paid immediate dividends when the Egyptians thought they had doubled their lead on 18 minutes. A cross from Abdel-Shafy was one-timed home by Salah, but the linesman adjudged the ball to have crossed the byline before being whipped into the box. Replays were inconclusive.

One minute later, El-Shennawy pulled off another superb save to deny a powerful shot by Mahamat. The save proved crucial as the Pharaohs doubled their lead two minutes later. Ahmed Hegazy sent a delightful through-ball over the top to Morsi, who outran the defenders before slotting the ball home at the keeper’s near post. Morsi had his brace, and the visitors were 2-0 up after 25 minutes.

The two goal lead was diminished in the 38th minute, as Chad pulled one back following some disappointed defending. A cross was sent in from Chad’s right; the ball landed in front of Haroun, who found himself in acres of space behind Hazem Emam. His one touch volley hit the ground before lobbing El-Shennawy and rolling into the bottom corner of the goal.

Ramadan Sobhy should have immediately made it 3-1 when Kahraba’s low cross found Sobhy one-on-on with the goalkeper, but the Al Ahly youngster sent his shot over the bar. Mohamed Salah spared Sobhy’s blushes when the Chad defenders failed to adequately handle a Bassem Morsi header as the newest Roma star latched onto the ball to again beat the Chad goalkeeper at his near post to make the score 3-1 in the 40th minute.

The first half ended with the same scoreline, but not before another scare for the Pharaohs as a stinging shot from Chad beat El-Shennawy but struck the crossbar.

Second half:

Shortly after the beginning of the second half, Héctor Cúper made his first two substitutions, as Ahmed Tawfik and Trezeguet replaced Ibrahim Salah and Ramadan Sobhy, respectively.

In the 56th minute, Bassem Morsi’s delightful cross found Kahraba, whose header hit the post. The Zamalek youngster made no mistake on the rebound to put his name on the scoresheet and extend the lead to 4-1. Six minutes later, Morsi capped off his extraordinary performance by connecting on a cross to slot the ball home for his third goal and Egypt’s fifth.

Two minutes later, the hattrick hero was substituted for Al Ahly’s Momen Zakaria. The match remained without incident until the 78th minute when El-Shennawy was again called into action to stop another impressive long-range effort from Chad. That was the last real chance on goal for either side as the Egyptians left Chad 5-1 victors.

The victory puts the Pharaohs all alone atop Group G with six points. Nigeria is second with four points, following a draw in Tanzania yesterday.

Watch the goals below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LLoXOyY4sG8