Ayoub El Kaabi's Stunning Goal Caps Morocco's Win Against the Coelacanths in Africa Cup of Nations First Game.
Host nation Morocco shook off a jittery beginning to overcome Comoros in the competition's inaugural fixture on Sunday, thanks to the Real Madrid attacker and substitute El Kaabi in the second half.
This constituted a hardly emphatic showing, however, from the highly fancied Moroccans, who sit 97 places above the small island nation in the world rankings and were forced to grind out for the victory in wet conditions at the national stadium.
Nervy Beginning and Spurned Opportunities
Morocco failed to convert an first-half penalty and were locked at 0-0 at the interval despite dominating possession, eventually breaking the deadlock in the 11th minute of the second half.
It arrived after full-back Mazraoui showed great skill to prevent the ball from going out before slipping it across for Díaz to sidefoot home.
Every first match is always difficult but we improved in the second period,” commented Morocco coach Walid Regragui.
El Kaabi's Moment of Magic
The tension was then extinguished by a moment of pure individual brilliance from Ayoub El Kaabi. Just 10 minutes after coming on, the striker met a ball into the box with a spectacular bicycle kick in the 74th minute, doubling and sealing the result.
Before that, the Moroccan team might have taken ahead in the 11th minute after a spot-kick was awarded for a foul on Díaz. However, Rahimi's penalty was saved by keeper Pandor.
The Visitors' Resistance and Late Opportunity
The underdogs comfortably held their more illustrious opponents for long periods until the hosts' greater quality eventually told.
Goalkeeper Yannick Pandor made several further good stops to limit the scoreline as the match progressed, although his team created a chance for an equalizer shortly after the first goal, with Rafiki Saïd shooting directly into Morocco goalkeeper Bounou.
Injury Concern for Hosts
The victory was somewhat overshadowed by an injury to the captain, Romain Saïss, who limped off after the 18th minute in some distress.
This centre-back had only returned to the national side recently after a lengthy layoff due to ankle surgery.
The win extends the team's record-breaking run of consecutive victories to nineteen, beating the old record of 15 set by the Spanish national team from 2008 and 2009.
