Salah fails to prevent Russia reducing Egypt to rubble

As expected, Egypt brought out the big guns in what was a must-win game for them. Star man Mo Salah wasn't risked against Uruguay, but after that game was lost, three points were needed to keep hopes of making the knockout stages alive, and Salah was named in the starting lineup. 

However, despite the excitement of the Liverpool forward's return, the first half was quite an underwhelming affair. Both sides had half-chances, but there was nothing to shout about for either team before the break. 

After the players came back out for the second period, though, things perked up significantly. Russia took the lead almost straight away, thanks to some calamitous defending from their opponents. 

The breakthrough came in the 47th minute, after Mohamed Elshenawy naively punched a cross, instead of catching. The ball was cleared, but it fell at the feet of Roman Zobnin, who lashed a shot into the box. The shot itself was off target, but when Ahmed Fathi attempted to clear, the Egyptian defender instead scuffed it into his own net, past the helpless limbs of the keeper, to make it 1-0.

Just over ten minutes later, the hosts doubled their lead, through Denis Cheryshev, who now has three goals in two games. The forward scored a goal that was much easier on the eye than the first, slotting home a nice finish from inside the box after Mario Fernandes cut it back for him.