AS Roma's Egyptian midfielder Mohamed Salah (R) shoots the ball against Empoli during the Italian Serie A football match Empoli vs AS Rome, on February 27, 2016 at Empoli (AFP)
AS Roma manager Luciano Spaletti acclaimed Mohamed Salah's abilities to drift inside from wide areas into central positions after he bagged a vital last-gasp equaliser for Egypt at Nigeria in the Africa Cup of Nations group-stage qualifiers on Friday.
With hosts Nigeria leading 1-0, Salah popped up in stoppage time to score the leveler in brilliant fashion from inside the area, after latching onto a silky through pass from substitute Ramadan Sobhi to salvage a precious point in Kaduna.
Roma manager Spaletti did not let the chance slip to heap praise on his star winger, who is quite adept at 'cutting infield and scoring from central positions'.
"Salah is doing well in front of goal as he showed with the national team," Spaletti told Roma's channel.
"With full-backs pushing forward, Salah could cut inside to receive the ball in the middle of the pitch.
"His goal against Sassuolo is a perfect example, where he escaped the attention of the opponent's full-back from the right before striking with his left foot from the middle.
"Such movements usually create problems to opposition sides; it creates a numerical overload in central areas and unsettles their backline."
Away to Sassuolo, the 23-year-old Salah scored a stunning goal after cutting inside from the right onto his stronger left foot to open the scoring in the Serie A game.
His goal against Nigeria, however, was not a typical cut-inside-and-shoot goal – where he superbly managed to break the offside trap on the right hand side of the box before going through on goal and dinking the ball over the advancing keeper with dexterity.
Salah has got to his name 12 goals with AS Roma so far this season, plus registering another five assists as he remains one of the Italian side's lethal weapons in attack.
Egypt host Nigeria on Tuesday for the fourth round of the Cup of Nations' group-stage qualifiers at Alexandria's Borg El-Arab Stadium.
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