View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Soccer Laduma (@soccer_laduma)

Algeria denied victory in AFCON opener by Angola

Algeria were denied a winning start at the Africa Cup of Nations following a 1-1 draw with Angola in Group D on Monday evening.

The North Africans launched a strong attack which consisted of captain Riyad Mahrez, Youcef Belaili, Ismael Bennacer and Baghdad Bounedjah, while the highly-rated Gelson highlighted the Angolans eleven.

The Palancas Negras were under immense pressure from the get-go and watched Fares Chaibi volley wide at the far post as a diagonal delivery unbalanced the rear-guard.

Bounedjah, the star of the 2019 edition, came good when a defensive lapse fell kindly for him to take a few steps towards target and bundled in the net.

The forward were denied a brace a little around to half-hour mark after he applied an overhead kick to find the near corner, but the strike was called back for offside.

At the other end, the Palancas Negras introduced a substitution in the last four minutes to halftime as Bruno Paz departed the fray to see Mabululu come on.

Both nations applied decent spells of pressure early in the second half, but weren't decisive with the final delivery in the final third.

Mabululu gave the Palancas Negras a route back on 68 minutes where he won a penalty from a foul by Nabil Bentaleb, and did the honours from 12-yards out albeit a rebound from the upright.

Dessert Foxes battled to regain momentum having surrendered the advantage, as the Palancas Negras dropped deep with the aim of holding onto the point.

Algeria kept probing and had goalkeeper Neblu ensured the points were shared as he made a save at full stretch to keep out a low free-kick by Mahrez in added time.

You must be SIGNED IN to read and post comments.

Click HERE to register!

Related tags

Comments