Noussair Mazraoui: Moroccan shows off defensive class in draw | OneFootball

Manchester United defender Noussair Mazraoui participated in Morocco’s second group match of the Africa Cup of Nations.

The defender assisted his side’s first goal against Comoros in the first game of the tournament.

It has been a positive start for United’s African stars as Bryan Mbeumo also got an assist for Cameroon and Amad scored Ivory Coast’s only goal.

Noussair Mazraoui

Mazraoui played the entire 90 minutes at right-back as the Moroccans were held to a 1-1 draw with Mali.

The draw means that Morocco’s world-record run of 19 consecutive victories is over, but they are still undefeated in 22 matches since they were knocked out of the last-16 of AFCON 2023.

The Morocco international was involved much more defensively last night, making seven defensive contributions in the match.

He also won all four of his tackles, alongside one interception and one clearance.

Mazraoui was also very effective in his duels, winning four out of five aerial battles. The full-back was also very strong in ground duels, winning a total of eight.

Less influence in attack

One of Mazraoui’s greatest strengths is his flexibility and his capacity to contribute both defensively and in attack.

He had much less impact from an offensive perspective against Mali, though.

The 28-year-old had zero key passes, and all four of his cross attempts failed to connect with a teammate.

He also only completed 76% of his passing attempts, as he was not very careful with the ball in possession.

Morocco will conclude their group stage with a match against Zambia on Monday evening, looking to win the group.

Noussair Mazraoui stats vs Mali

Featured image Justin Setterfield via Getty Images

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