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Joel Sanderson-Murray·16 January 2022
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Joel Sanderson-Murray·16 January 2022
The Africa Cup of Nations action continued today and there were four more games to look ahead to.
Here’s what went down.
Scorers: Obiang 70′.
Algeria’s hopes of progressing to the knockout rounds hang by a thread after they suffered a shock defeat to end their 35-game unbeaten international run.
The pre-tournament favourites in the eyes of many struggled to create anything of note in the first half and could’ve found themselves behind as Equatorial Guinea posed the biggest threat.
Edu smashed a shot just wide of the post from a corner before forcing a double save from the Raïs M’Bolhi at the start of the second half.
Djamel Belmadi’s men continued to struggle way into the second 45 minutes but they came close midway through the second half when Youcef Belaïl’s header had to be cleared off the line.
And then came the stunning moment of the match, and perhaps of the tournament so far.
Algeria made an awful mess of clearing a corner and the ball bounced into the path of Esteban Obiang who poked home at the back post.
They now sit bottom of the group on just a point heading into their final group game against the Ivory Coast.
Scorers: Haller 25′, Pépé 66′. M. Kamara 55′, A. Kamara 90+3.
Alhaji Kamara scored a dramatic stoppage-time equaliser to delay Ivory Coast’s progression to the last-16 and keep Sierra Leone’s dreams of qualifying alive.
Patrice Beaumelle’s side had a golden opportunity to take the lead in the 10th minute when Wilfried Zaha was fouled in the box but Franck Kessié’s penalty was saved by Mohamed Kamara.
Before long they did find their opener as Zaha’s defence-splitting pass played in Sébastien Haller who took one tough before slotting the ball into the bottom corner.
Sierra Leone began to pose questions Badra Ali Sangaré had to make a string of saves before they eventually equalised 10 minutes into the second half.
Musa Kamara received the ball inside the box and took one touch before rifling a left-footed finish into the top corner from 15 yards out.
Pépé then looked to have scored the winner 11 minutes later, curling home with his left foot into the bottom corner from the edge of the box after being set up by PSV’s Ibrahim Sangaré.
But there was a dramatic twist in the last minute of stoppage time when Steven Caulker took advantage of Sangaré losing track of the ball, cutting it back for Alhaji Kamara to stab home from four yards out to earn a stunning draw for Sierra Leone.
Sangaré was injured in the build-up to the goal and with Ivory Coast having used all their substitutes, the match ended with former Tottenham defender Serge Aurier having to go in goal.
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