Ayoub El Kaabi's Spectacular Strike Secures The Atlas Lions' Win Against the Coelacanths in Afcon Opener.
The Morocco overcame a jittery start to beat Comoros in the competition's opening game on the weekend, thanks to the Real Madrid attacker and super-sub Ayoub El Kaabi in the latter period.
This constituted a hardly emphatic performance, however, from the highly fancied Moroccans, who sit 97 places higher than the small Indian Ocean nation in the world rankings and had to work tirelessly for the victory in wet conditions at the national stadium.
Tense Beginning and Spurned Opportunities
Morocco missed an first-half penalty and were locked at 0-0 at the interval despite controlling possession, eventually opening the scoring in the 55th minute.
It arrived after full-back Mazraoui did well to prevent the ball from going out before laying it across for Brahim Díaz to sidefoot into the net.
Every first match is always difficult but we improved in the second period,” commented manager Walid Regragui.
El Kaabi's Piece of Magic
Any lingering nerves was subsequently extinguished by a piece of pure genius from Ayoub El Kaabi. Only ten minutes following coming on, the striker met a ball into the box with a stunning overhead kick in the 74th minute, making it two and sealing the win.
Earlier in the match, the hosts might have taken the lead in the 11th minute when a spot-kick was given for a challenge on Brahim Díaz. However, Rahimi's effort was kept out by keeper Pandor.
The Visitors' Resistance and Second-Half Opportunity
Comoros comfortably held their more illustrious opponents for long periods before the hosts' greater quality eventually made the difference.
Shot-stopper Yannick Pandor pulled off a number of further good stops to limit the scoreline as the match progressed, even though Comoros did have a chance for an equalizer shortly after the first goal, with Saïd shooting straight at Morocco goalkeeper Bounou.
Fitness Worry for Morocco
The victory was partially overshadowed by an apparent injury to Morocco's skipper, Romain Saïss, who limped off after the 18th minute apparently in some distress.
The defender had just returned to the international setup recently after a lengthy layoff due to a serious ankle operation.
This result extends the team's record-breaking run of successive victories to 19, beating the previous best of 15 set by Spain between 2008 and 2009.
