The Flames were left searching their souls last night after a pathetic performance that saw

them lose 2-0 to Egypt in a 2023 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier at Air Defence Stadium in Cairo.

The lacklustre performance should give Flames coach Mario Marinica plenty of food-for-thought ahead of the second round of matches as they have three points from three matches.

The Flames will now have to dig deep and win both their remaining home matches against Egypt and Guinea if they are to have realistic chances of qualifying for the continental showpiece back-to-back.

In a match monitored on SuperSport Television, the seven-time African champions were in control of the proceedings right from the word go with an interlude of beautiful pass-and-move football that forced the Flames in rearguard action.

At the hub of the hosts play was their England-based Liverpool forward Mohammad Salah, who shone brightly.

His side struggled against
Egypt: Marinica

Malawi could hardly string three passes in the opening stanza and could not build any meaningful attack.

After surviving several scares, Egypt drew first blood through their captain Salah in the 20th minute with a cool finish from a square ball. It was his 48th strike in 86 appearances for the Pharaohs.

The hosts doubled the lead just before half time following comical defending.

A blunder by centre-back Gomezgani Chirwa led to yet another error by Romania-based right-back Charles Petro to score in his own net while attempting to clear the ball away.

To underline their dominance, the Pharaohs had 10 corners against none for  Malawi.

That was not all. Malawi also did not have a single shot on goal.

Egypt, ranked 39th in the world, had 84.7 percent possession against 15.3 percent for their 124th-ranked opponents.

At half-time, Marinica introduced Stein Dave and Peter Banda for Khuda Muyaba and Francisco Madinga, respectively.

The changes appeared to have breathed life into the Flames play, but moments later, Banda hobbled off the pitch following a shoulder injury and was replaced by Yamikani Chester.

Malawi’s closest chance in the game came midway the second-half when Dave headed over the bar from a free-kick.

As desperation took a toll, Malawi made a fourth substitution, taking off Micium Mhone for Chimwemwe Idana, but there was little to show for.

Marinica could not be reached for comment.

Egypt coach Rui Vitoria said he was delighted to win his first competitive match.

The Portuguese, who was appointed in July, said: “This was an important game as we needed to win to put our campaign on track. We knew Malawi would want to frustrate us, so we had to score early,” he said in a post-match interview with SuperSport.

This was his fourth straight win after beating Niger, Liberia and Belgium in friendlies.

The two teams meet again on Tuesday at Bingu National Stadium in Lilongwe.

Ethiopia were taking on Guinea in the other Group D match at press time

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