Belgium battle back for draw as Egypt's wait for World Cup win goes on

[p]Despite the energy-sapping 30-degree heat, both teams began this match on the front foot, though it took until the seventh minute before any efforts of note came about, as [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/belgium/GbB957na/"]Belgium[/a]’s [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/de-bruyne-kevin/MsPs6OI5/"]Kevin De Bruyne[/a] fired just wide from outside the area.[/p][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/egypt/bejDn7NN/"]Egypt[/a] were compact and efficient in their possession, with [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/marmoush-omar/44pYRYIC/"]Omar Marmoush[/a] particularly impressive, but they were consistently thwarted by a well-organised Belgian defence.[/p][p][b]That was until [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/ashour-emam/fuSVhCZ5/"]Emam Ashour[/a] received [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/salah-mohamed/08FBycgB/"]Mohamed Salah[/a]’s simple pass before letting fly from distance in the 20th-minute, with his right-foot shot leaving [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/courtois-thibaut/MVExOq3n/"]Thibaut Courtois[/a] grasping at thin air as the ball nestled in the bottom corner.[/b][/p][image alt="Emam Ashour's goal for Egypt" id="e7bab833-791a-4076-bc92-4aed8b4abe5b" credit-line="Opta by StatsPerform (IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters/Blake Dahlin)" guid="b2b6a7fa-e80e-4b63-91f8-4580f3dd2804" original-width="1080" original-height="1080" /][p]Belgium redoubled their efforts to try and get [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/doku-jeremy/lMHcYK4f/"]Jeremy Doku[/a] into the game, but still struggled collectively to get going, and the Manchester City man’s wild stoppage-time attempt rather summed up the Red Devils’ opening 45.[/p][p]A scramble right at the start of the second half saw Belgium escape further punishment, and they could’ve drawn level shortly afterwards, when De Bruyne’s direct free-kick after Doku had been felled cannoned back off the woodwork.[/p][p]Courtois was then called upon to parry Salah’s free header, before Ashour dragged his follow-up well wide.[/p][image alt="Match momentum" id="e7fa5788-f575-494c-a526-0dd526d6e498" credit-line="Opta by StatsPerform" guid="f36b8534-b631-4cba-9c62-4f953bd83a47" original-width="1920" original-height="1080" /][p]The undercurrent of Man City influence across the field only continued, as Marmoush soon caught Belgium on the break, but as he was about to pull the trigger, [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/ngoy-nathan/x6Zak7to/"]Nathan Ngoy[/a] snuffed out the danger.[/p][p]That appeared to encourage the Red Devils, and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/tielemans-youri/GtkTQyib/"]Youri Tielemans[/a]’ incredible left-footed volley was just a whisker wide. [/p][p][b]But when [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/lukaku-romelu/dCkG0Iw0/"]Romelu Lukaku[/a] came on in the 66th minute, he made his presence felt within seconds, and in [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/hany-mohamed/nyIZP4tk/"]Mohamed Hany[/a]’s attempts to clear the ball from the striker’s path, he only succeeded in putting it into his own net.[/b][/p][image alt="Belgium's Romelu Lukaku celebrates after Egypt's Mohamed Hany scored an own goal" id="05db06b1-34ee-4d3d-8c89-25d5b93fc5bc" credit-line="Reuters / Agustin Marcarian" guid="f886e176-da71-42d7-b329-8ea5200c79f4" original-width="4390" original-height="2985" /][p]Having been handed a lifeline, Belgium began to pour forward at every opportunity, with [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/oufa-shobeir/0vgRIJk9/"]Mostofa Shobeir[/a] brilliantly denying [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/mechele-brandon/6k4GFuni/"]Brandon Mechele[/a] with a flying one-handed save late on.[/p][p]The draw ensures that Belgium have still lost just one of their last 16 group stage matches at the World Cup (W8, D7), and despite Egypt’s inability to earn a fifth clean sheet in their last six games, this performance largely bodes well for the African heavyweights.[/p][p][b]Flashscore Man of the Match: [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/castagne-timothy/xYfOMcA5/"]Timothy Castagne[/a] (Belgium)[/b][/p][image alt="Key match stats" id="f1439191-b736-4be4-9c0c-913e3ce1f911" credit-line="Opta by StatsPerform" guid="b458a89e-068a-419b-b83e-5435b2f8092e" original-width="1080" original-height="1080" /][p][b][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/soccer/belgium-GbB957na/egypt-bejDn7NN/summary/stats/?mid=dG7zgzd5"]Catch up on the match stats with Flashscore.[/a][/b][/p]