Ayoub El Kaabi's Spectacular Strike Caps The Atlas Lions' Victory Over Comoros in Afcon Opening Match.
Host nation the Moroccan side overcame a nervy start to overcome Comoros in the tournament's opening game on the weekend, thanks to the Real Madrid attacker and substitute Ayoub El Kaabi in the latter period.
It was a less than dominant showing, however, from the highly fancied Moroccans, who are ranked 97 places above the tiny Indian Ocean nation in the FIFA rankings and were forced to grind out for the three points in rainy conditions at the national stadium.
Nervy Start and Spurned Opportunities
Morocco missed an early penalty and were locked at 0-0 at the interval despite controlling the ball, finally opening the scoring in the 55th minute.
It arrived after Noussair Mazraoui showed great skill to prevent the ball from going out before slipping it square for Brahim Díaz to sidefoot into the net.
“The opening game is never easy but we came good in the second period,” said Morocco coach Walid Regragui.
The Substitute's Moment of Magic
The tension was then calmed by a piece of sheer individual brilliance from substitute El Kaabi. Only 10 minutes following coming on, the forward connected with a ball into the box with a spectacular bicycle kick in the 74th minute, making it two and ensuring the result.
Before that, the hosts might have taken ahead in the 11th minute when a spot-kick was awarded for a challenge on Díaz. However, Soufiane Rahimi penalty was kept out by keeper Pandor.
Comoros Defiant Stand and Second-Half Chance
The underdogs comfortably held their more illustrious opponents for long periods before the Moroccans' greater quality in the end told.
Goalkeeper Pandor pulled off a number of further good stops to keep down the scoreline as the match wore on, even though Comoros did have a chance for an equalizer shortly after the first goal, with Rafiki Saïd shooting straight at Morocco goalkeeper Bounou.
Fitness Worry for Hosts
The victory was somewhat marred by an apparent injury to the skipper, Romain Saïss, who was forced off after the 18th minute in some distress.
This centre-back had just made his comeback to the national side recently after a lengthy layoff caused by a serious ankle operation.
This result continues Morocco's record-breaking run of consecutive victories to 19, beating the previous record of 15 set by the Spanish national team between 2008 and 2009.
