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In an evening full of twists and turns, Morocco drew against Gabon (2-2) while the Comoros snatched the first victory in their history in a CAN final phase, eliminating Ghana (3-2) in the process. , the first among the competition favorites to leave.
First heavyweight eliminated from CAN! The Black Stars of Ghana lost on Tuesday, January 18, against the Comoros, who signed here the first victory in their history in the competition (3-2). In the other match, the leaders of Group C, Morocco and Gabon, neutralized each other in one of the best matches of the African Cup Nations 2022 so far (2-2). Both teams are qualified for the round of 16.
In Ahmadou Ahidjo’s stadium in Yaoundé, Morocco and Gabon began to surrender one after the other, giving rise to a long trench warfare in midfield, preventing the actions from developing. After twenty long minutes, Gabon opened the scoring on their first clear chance. On a clearance from the Moroccan goalkeeper, the Moroccan defender Chakla slips as he wants to clear the ball with a header. Gabonese striker Allevinah, already a scorer against Ghana, recovers the ball and wins his duel against Mohamedi (22nd, 1-0).
A few moments later, Boupendza finds himself lonely in the Gabonese area. He plays with the Moroccan defenders and gets closer to the goalkeeper. His shot misses the frame when it was a break point (29th). Then, on a long cross, Palun jumps higher than everyone at the penalty spot and forces the Moroccan goalkeeper to pull out a big save (42nd).
Immediately, Faycal Fajr tries a tricky strike, which Amonome pushes back (46th). The former Caennais leads the charge of the Atlas Lions since, a few minutes later, he sends a heavy free kick into the wall (51st).
The match panicked in the second half
Gabon is not panicking and continues to proceed with lightning counterattacks. Allevinah almost doubled the lead after going behind the defense. He is caught by three defenders and his shot in disaster flirts with the left post of the Moroccan goalkeeper (56th). Then, he finds the bar on a volley (59th).
Morocco believes it is coming back. Youssef En-Nesyri passes in front of Amonome, who finds himself on the long opening of Aguerd. The ball flies into the goal but an offside position is held against En-Nesyri who makes play action (60th). Then, the incoming Boufal collapses in the area in contact with Obiang, but the referee does not interrupt the game (62nd).
On the other hand, ten minutes later, the referee clearly indicates the penalty spot when the Angevin finds himself on the ground for the umpteenth time after a mowing by Poko. The Moroccan does justice to himself with the flat of the strong foot on the left side (74th, 1-1).
Morocco first thanks to Hakimi
The match gets carried away at this time. During a counter, Allevinah is well served on the left side in depth. He squeezes Boupendza into the area who is ahead of Aguerd and deceives the goalkeeper (81st, 2-1).
The Panthers think they have won but that’s without counting on Achref Hakimi. The Parisian sends a cannonball on a free kick in the top corner of almost 30 meters to equalize (85th, 2-2).
The score remains there. Gabon have long believed they could steal first place from Morocco, which was able to hang on and get back into the game each time.
The Comoros without complex
In the other match of group C, Ghana, with only one small point, absolutely had to win against Petit Poucet of the competition to hope to advance to the round of 16. A compromised goal from the start with the opener of Ben El Fardou, author of the first goal in the history of the Comoros at the CAN on a nice shot from the corner of the surface (0-1, 4th). Another blow for Ghana with the expulsion of captain André Ayew, for a foul on goalkeeper Ben Boina, replaced in stride by Ali Ahamada (25th).
But it was still the Black Stars who got the better chances, besieging Ali Ahamada’s goal before the break, but the numerically-superior Comoros held on. Same thing on the way back from the locker room, but while Ghana largely dominates, the Comoros make the break on a nice strike from Mogni, after several hot actions in front of Wollacott’s goal (0-2, 60th). This time, Ghana responded immediately with a victorious header from Boakye, who had just entered the game (1-2, 63rd).
Ghana goes out the back door
The Black Stars then regained hope, and this materialized with the equalizer from Djiku, at close range, well served by Partey, while Ghana besieged the Comorian goal (2-2, 75th). The Ghan can then hope to qualify again, but this match shows the typical example of a meeting between a team that plays without pressure and a team paralyzed by the stakes.
Because in the last minutes of this crazy match, the Comoros regain the advantage on a very well led counter, at the end of which Ben El Fardou offers a superb ball to Mogni for the double (2-3, 86th). It is therefore already the end of the adventure for Ghana, who came out the back door finishing last in their group. As for the Comoros, with 3 points, it may be difficult to pass among the best third, but it is already an achievement, with a first historic victory at the CAN.
The performance of the Comoros is the joy of another country, Malawi, now guaranteed to finish among the four best third drafted for the round of 16.
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