Algeria defeated Burkina Faso 1-0 yesterday thanks to a penalty kick from Riyad Mahrez, guaranteeing them a spot in the Africa Cup of Nations round of 16.
Algeria won a brutal match against a resolute Burkina team when captain Mahrez scored from the penalty spot halfway through the first half at Rabat’s Moulay El Hassan Stadium, according to AFP.
After two games in Group E, Algeria, the 1990 and 2019 African champions, have the most points with six goals and have not given up a goal. Vladimir Petkovic’s team is playing up to their reputation as one of the pre-tournament favorites.
Sudan and Burkina Faso are next with three points apiece and will face one another on Wednesday in the group’s last round.
Even if Algeria loses their final match against now-pointless Equatorial Guinea, they would still finish first because they defeated both of them. They will play a last-16 match in Rabat on January 6.
“We anticipated a really difficult game. The fact that we won the game is what matters most, even if we put up a fierce fight. Ibrahim Maza, the man of the match for Bayer Leverkusen in Algeria, stated, “Now we are qualified and that was the main goal.”
Regarding the physical aspect of the encounter, he continued, “We knew before that they would be very tough but we said we would have to fight against it, also be dirty, and tackle very hard and we did that well today.”
At the most recent AFCON in Ivory Coast, Algeria had to rally from a two-goal deficit to draw 2-2 with the Stallions, a result that helped them lose in the group stage.
They won all three points this time, when Rayan Ait-Nouri of Manchester City was shoved over inside the box to score the game-winning penalty.
Following his brace in the first 3-0 loss against Sudan, Mahrez made no mistakes with his kick in the 23rd minute to increase his Cup of Nations total to three goals.
Attending his sixth AFCON, the former Manchester City and Leicester City winger currently has nine goals at the competition, setting an Algerian record.
There were 18,522 Algerian fans in the stadium when the game took place, and the atmosphere was lively.
Zinedine Zidane, a legendary player from France, witnessed the victory over Sudan and watched his son Luca play goal for the Desert Foxes.
After an Algerian breakaway in first half stoppage time, Mahrez set up Mohamed Amoura for a shot that was stopped by goalkeeper Herve Koffi, and Hearts striker Pierre Landry Kabore nearly equalized for Burkina Faso with a header from a corner.
In the second half, Maza missed two good chances to score, and late in the game, Burkina Faso made a vain attempt to equalize by a goal from replacement Georgi Minoungou.
About the Author
