Error-ridden Egypt are on the verge of another stunning African Nations Cup failure after slumping to a 3-2 defeat by 10-man Central Africa in Alexandria on Friday.

Failing to build on their promising start to the World Cup qualifiers, the Pharaohs were punished for some defensive woes as Central Africa striker Hilaire Momi scored twice to give his side an upset victory in a match that was played behind closed doors due to lingering security concerns in Egypt.

Egypt appeared hardly affected by lack of domestic football action when they defeated Mozambique and Guinea in their first two World Cup qualifiers but they were completely out-of-sorts against Central Africa, who managed to win despite the first-half dismissal of defender Salif Keita for a second bookable offence.

The hosts took the lead twice through goals from Mohamed Zidan and Mohamed Salah but Momi made the most of their repeated blunders at the back to cancel them out.

Central Africa's David Manga struck with 13 minutes remaining to spark wild celebrations for his side, who are 45 places below Egypt in the FIFA world ranking, following the final whistle. It was Egypt's first competitive defeat at home since losing 2-1 to Ivory Coast in a World Cup qualifier in 2004.

Egypt will now face a daunting task to reach next year's Nations Cup finals in South Africa and avoid another letdown, having failed to qualify for the 2012 edition following a hugely disappointing qualifying campaign that led to the departure of coach Hassan Shehata.

The second leg will be played on 29 June in Bangui.

Attacking formation

An attacking formation saw Egypt coach Bob Bradley field four forwards in his starting XI – Mohamed Abou-Treika, Zidan,  Salah and Ahmed Temsah.

Three of them combined to give Egypt the lead following an early onslaught as the hosts looked determined to secure a comfortable first-leg advantage.

In the 10^th minute, in-form playmaker Abou-Treika released Temsah with a deft through pass to square the ball for Zidan, who made no mistake with an easy tap-in after the keeper was caught out of position.

However, Egypt suffered at the back, with midfield duo Hosni Abd-Rabou and Mohamed El-Nenny struggling to close down spaces as Central Africa looked dangerous on the break.

One minute after Egypt went ahead, the visitors almost leveled the score when a defensive lapse allowed Momi to break clear but he shot wide with the goal at his mercy.

Egypt also wasted a chance to double their advantage shortly afterwards when Central Africa keeper Geoffrey Lembet tipped a powerful close-range shot from Salah onto the post.

Another neatly-worked counter attack allowed Central Africa to restore parity in the 25^th minute when Momi beat the offside trap to break clear, lift the ball over advancing keeper Essam El-Hadary and slot into an empty net.

Central Africa's celebrations were spoiled by the dismissal of Keita ten minutes later but they still maintained a killer instinct which helped them outplay Egypt in the second half.

Defensive frailties

Egypt looked to be cruising to a win when they regained the lead three minutes after the restart. Another precise pass from the evergreen Abou-Treika sent Salah clean through to curl a delightful left-foot shot into the far corner from a tight angle.

But defensive frailties continued to haunt an Egyptian side that sorely missed the support of their enthusiastic supporters.

Central Africa hit Egypt on the break once again two minutes past the hour mark when Manga outpaced Ahmed Hegazy before falling in the area under a challenge from the Fiorentina newly-signed defender.

However, he still managed to kick the ball into the path of Momi, who took advantage of sloppy defending from Hegazy's partner Mahmoud Fathallah to easily drill home from six yards out.

Matters went from bad to worse in the 69^th minute when Manga put Central Africa ahead.

Skipping past two defenders, the FK Partizan midfielder burst into the area after neatly exchanging passes with a teammate to notch home with aplomb as Egypt's defenders were caught ball-watching.

Egypt poured forward in a bid to salvage a draw but struggled to break down a resilient defence. They were restricted to some tame efforts from Abou-Treika, who was the hosts' best performer.

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