Brilliant Noussair Mazraoui dazzles as Morocco crush Zambia 3-0 to reach AFCON last 16 | OneFootball

Manchester United defender Noussair Mazraoui produced a classy performance to help Morocco to a dominant 3-0 win over Zambia.

Morocco remain unbeaten in AFCON and are through to the round of 16 as outright leaders of Group A.

Morocco destroy Zambia

From the outset, Morocco imposed their game, dominating possession and neutralising Zambia’s threat. It wasn’t long before the tournament hosts found the breakthrough.

Just nine minutes into the action, Ayoub El Kaabi found the back of the net, reacting the quickest to fire home a superb delivery from Azzedine Ounahi.

The early goal rocked Zambia, who seemed in sixes and sevens as Morocco tightened their grip on the game.

Real Madrid star Brahim Diaz doubled the Atlas Lions’ advantage just before the break as he finished off another well-worked move.

Morocco managed the second half spectacularly and finally put the tie to bed in the 50th minute when El Kaabi scored again with a stunning overhead kick finish.

For Zambia, the defeat confirmed their elimination, ending their group phase campaign with just two points.

Mazraoui’s performance

Deployed at left-back, Mazraoui produced an imperious performance. The United man successfully delivered 34 of the 38 passes he attempted, registering an impressive individual pass accuracy of 89%.

He touched the ball 60 times and completed both dribbles he embarked on.

Mazraoui was a beast defensively. The 28-year-old put in two tackles and won both of them. He made one interception and as many clearances.

He registered two recoveries. Mazraoui won all six ground duels that he delved into and lost just one of the three aerial challenges he vied for.

(Stats obtained from Sofascore)

Mazraoui was on the pitch for just over an hour before he was taken off and replaced by Paris Saint-Germain’s Achraf Hakimi.

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