Saudi Arabia 2 Egypt 1: Last-gasp Al Dawsari earns consolation win

Posted Tuesday, June 26, 2018 by Goal.com

Essam El Hadary saved a penalty on a record-breaking day, but his World Cup outing was ruined as Saudi Arabia left it late to beat Egypt.

Salem Al Dawsari scored with the last kick of the game as Saudi Arabia ended their World Cup campaign with a consolation 2-1 win over Egypt in Group A.

Al Dawsari's goal means that Saudi Arabia finish third in the pool on three points, while Egypt return home without a point to show for their efforts.

Essam El Hadary had earlier looked like claiming the spotlight after becoming the oldest player to ever play in the World Cup at the age of 45 years and 161 days and saving a first-half penalty from Fahad Al Muwallad.

No sooner had the veteran goalkeeper finished celebrating and he was facing another spot-kick, this time given after the lightest of shirt tugs by Ali Gabr on Al Muwallad.

Referee Wilmar Roldan was encouraged to review the decision by VAR, but the Colombian stood by his initial call giving Salam Al Faraj the chance - after a three-minute delay - to drill past El Hadary and pull his side level deep into first-half stoppage time.

Mohamed Salah - whose international future has been the subject of intense speculation this week - had earlier opened the scoring for Egypt with a fine finish, but Hector Cuper's men finished empty handed thanks to Al Dawsari's last-gasp effort.