Ghana striker Eric Bekoe has hit the ground running in Egypt as he scored in his debut for Petrojet on Thursday to beat second-division Mansoura 3-2 and advance to the semi-finals of the Egyptian Cup.
The visitors were three nil up until the last ten minutes at Mansoura Stadium, thanks to a brace from Sayed Hamdi and a goal by Bekoe.
However, Mansoura made a late recovery with quick fire goals from Mohamed Abou-Mahdi and Mohamed Al-Morsi, but that was not enough.
Petrojet took the lead in the 24th minute through Hamdi, who connected with Osama Mohamed’s inch-perfect cross to head in past Mahmoud Abdoul-Saud.
Eleven minutes after the break, Hamdi, who scored a goal and set up another in the last 16 round 2-1 victory over Gaish, dished out a fine assist to new signing Bekoe.
The Ghanaian capped his full debut with a close-range strike from a tight angle, but keeper Aboul-Saud should have done better.
In the 63rd minute, Bekoe returned the favor to Hamdi, laying off a deft back heel to the relentless playmaker, who placed a wonderful shot into the top corner.
The game was virtually over but Mansoura skipper Abou-Mahdi scrambled in a point-blank finish to pull one back for the home side in the 80th minute.
Four minutes from time, the competition’s top scorer Al-Morsi scored from the spot to take his tally to four goals and give Mansoura more hope of making a dramatic comeback.
But three injury-time minutes were not enough for the outsiders to get back into the game.
Bekoe was Ghana league’s top scorer with Asante Kotoko before leaving the club to join the Egyptian side at the start of the Ghanaian season.