No Salah: Egypt suffer shock defeat to Ethiopia in match without Liverpool star

Depleted Egypt suffered a shock 2-0 loss to Ethiopia as World Cup-bound Morocco and Cameroon recorded narrow victories in Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers on Thursday.

Egypt were without injured Mo Salah, Mohamed Elneny and Mahmoud Trezeguet, but were still expected to brush the Ethiopians aside in their Group D fixture played in neutral Lilongwe due to the latter’s home venue not meeting Confederation of African Football standards.

Salah is Egypt's captain and a star player for Liverpool FC in the English Premier League.

Goals from Dawa Hotessa and Shimelis Bekele sealed the Ethiopian victory, while Egypt, who were Cup of Nations finalists in Cameroon in February, managed just a single shot on target in an uncharacteristically limp display.

Naby Keita scored the only goal in stoppage-time as Guinea beat Malawi 1-0 in Conakry to leave all four teams on three points after two rounds.

Morocco dominated their match against South Africa in Rabat, but fell behind to an early goal from striker Lyle Foster.

The pressure told for the visitors in the second period, though, as Youssef En-Nesyri and Ayoub El Kaabi rescued the three points for the North African side.

Cameroon opened their qualification campaign with a narrow 1-0 away victory in Burundi as Karl Toko Ekambi scored the only goal of the game.

Nigeria rallied from a goal down to beat Sierra Leone 2-1 in their Group A fixture in Abuja, a game played on such a poor pitch that it made any semblance of an entertaining spectacle impossible.

The visitors took a shock lead through Jonathan Morsay, but goals from Alex Iwobi and Victor Osimhen sealed Nigeria's win.

Guinea-Bissau head the pool after they thumped Sao Tome and Principe 5-1 in the Moroccan city of Agadir.

Zinho Gano scored a brace to go with goals for Alfa Semedo, Zidane Banjaqui and Jorginho.

Mali scored twice in stoppage-time to beat South Sudan 3-1 in neutral Entebbe, with the Red Bull Salzburg duo of Mohamed Camara and Sekou Koita turning the match in their favour, before Aliou Dieng added a third.

Mali lost forward Ibrahima Kone to a red card with 12 minutes remaining but still managed to make it two wins from two.

Finally, Ivory Coast had 86 percent possession and 16 attempts on goal, but were held to a 0-0 draw by Lesotho in neutral Soweto.

(Reuters)