The Al Ahly man struck a brilliant shot into the roof of the net after Ahmed Mostafa dummied a cross from Mohammed Salah on the right.

But despite going down early, the Kenyan side gave in a good account of themselves and got several scoring chances, settling into the game well.

Mohamed Elshenawy was kept busy in the Egyptian goal as the Kenyans constantly tried to find a way back into the game. Skipper Michael Olunga had a chance in the seventh minute but his low shot off an Abdallah Hassan cutback went straight to the keeper.

Five minutes to the break, they thought they had their way back into the game when Masud Juma scored off Akumu’s clipped pass but the first assistant referee’s flag was up for offside.

 Elshenawy was made to work when Masud struck a good shot from the edge of the area after a swift turn. Olunga picked up the rebound but sent his rasping shot into the side netting.

In the 65th minute Hassan Abdallah leveled for Kenya and sparked the game into live.

Kenya’s hunt to get the maximum points was dealt a blow in the 76th minute when defender Omurwa was sent off for an off the ball incident with Mohamed Mostafa.

With a one man advantage, Egypt pushed more bodies upfront to try and stop Kenya’s forays of attack and it worked as they held on to a 1-1 draw but are through to the final with a game to spare.

For Kenya, they will have to play for pride in their last qualifier game.