In their opening game of the Africa Cup of Nations on Wednesday, Algeria, the 2019 champions, defeated 10-man Sudan 3-0 with the help of captain Riyad Mahrez in each half.
The Algerian fans, who made up the majority of the 16, 115 crowd at Rabat’s Moulay El Hassan Stadium, were delighted to see Mahrez score the opener after just 82 seconds.
The former Manchester City winger, who is currently with Al-Ahli of Saudi Arabia, scored Algeria’s second goal shortly after the hour mark, and Ibrahim Maza put the best possible finishing touches on the night to seal the victory.
Zinedine Zidane, a legend of France and his family from Algeria, and his son Luca, a star for the Desert Foxes, were among the spectators in the Moroccan capital.
Algerian supporters will have been delighted to see their team put on a strong performance with his appearance on big screens in the ground.
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“I’m pleased that I received three points. The main goal for us was to win today because it has been a long time since we did that at the AFCON,” Mahrez said.
We want to reach the final as a team. We’re not bringing the numbers here.
He continued, “We need to keep our feet on the ground because this is only one match.”
Algeria broke the deadlock against the group outsiders despite being eliminated in the first round without winning either of the previous two AFCON competitions.
When Hicham Boudaoui’s back-heel from Mohamed Amoura crossed the penalty box to tee up Mahrez, the match was barely more than a minute old. Before entering, he took a second.
Then, Zidane did well to save Algeria from Yaser Awad Boshara, who had defeated them.
Goals compiled
Six minutes before the break, Salaheldin Adil was sent off for a second booking for slicing down Rayan Ait-Nouri, severely reducing Sudan’s chances of regaining their composure.
Ramy Bensebaini’s goal was later disallowed for offside, but Mahrez equaled 2-0 with a lovely outside-of-the-boot assist from Amoura on 61 minutes.
At his sixth AFCON appearance, Mahrez has now eight goals for Algeria, which is a record. Fans ovated him late in the game.
With five minutes left, substitute Maza of Bayer Leverkusen scored Algeria’s 100th AFCON goal from Baghdad Bounedjah’s knockdown to make it 3-0.
Since winning the Cup of Nations in 1970, Sudan has only won once in 17 of its matches.
In Casablanca, Burkinabe defeated Equatorial Guinea 2-1 thanks to two goals from two goals deep in injury time.
Equatorial Guinea’s Basilio Ndong was immediately dismissed just after half-time, but Marvin Anieboh, a substitute, headed in with 85 minutes.
Georgi Minoungou equalized just before Leverkusen defender Edmond Tapsoba scored a stunning winner in the 98th minute.
Source: Channels TV
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