Fiorentina's Mohamed Salah, right, scores during the Serie A soccer match between Sassuolo and Fiorentina in Reggio Emilia, Italy, Feb. 14, 2015. (Photo: AP)
Mohamed Salah played full 90 minutes in Fiorentina’s vital 1-1 first leg draw at Tottenham Hotspur in the Europa League round of 32 on Thursday.
Hosts Tottenham took the lead in as early as the sixth minute through Roberto Soldado, before Argentinian defender Jose Basanta restored parity 30 minutes later.
Salah, who scored a goal and set up another in the recent 3-1 Serie A win at Sassuolo on his second Fiorentina appearance, put in a relatively fine performance at White Hart Lane this time around.
After 16 minutes, Salah – who started the game as a second striker behind Mario Gomez – almost went through on goal from the right hand side of the area before Jan Vertonghen made a timely interception as the Egyptian was about to shoot.
But the major highlight of the game belonged to Salah, who had to see his strike from the edge of the area miss the target by inches having been picked up by Joaquin just two minutes into the second half.
Salah, on a six-month loan from Chelsea, was then guilty of spurning a glorious chance in the 73rd minute, when he miscontrolled Marcos Alonso’s pass inside the six-yard box to squander a chance to put his side in front.
The 22-year-old Egypt winger also appeared again one minute from time with a 20-yard shot but his effort went wide.
Fiorentina, currently fourth of the Serie A table, host Tottenham in the return leg next week on Thursday.
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