CHAN 2022: Aimen Mahious Wins High-Stake Algeria-Cote D’Ivoire Game From The Spot

The hop, skip and jump penalty converted by Algeria’s Aimen Mahious was enough to seal a semi-final spot for Algeria in their hotly contested quarter-final match-up of the TotalEnergies African Nations Championship against Cote D’Ivoire, in the Nelson Mandela stadium on Friday.

It was a difficult but deserved qualification for Algeria who suffered for chunks of the game against Cote D’Ivoire.

The first half was filled twists and turns but Madjid Bugherra’s men were meant to pay the price for their inability to convert despite early pressure. A rookie error; short back pass was made by captain Abdellaoui, to goalkeeper Guendouz at the 16th minute. The shot-stopper handled on he edge of the area. The referee initially showed yellow before overruling for red after consulting VAR.

Reduced to ten, Laouafi and his teammates tried to compensate for their numerical inferiority by tightening the backline, even missing to open scores had it not been once again for the brilliance of goalkeeper Folly, who was standout.

Continues drama followed in the 35th minute when Ivorian defender Kouassi was given a matching order after a rash tackle on Belkhiter.

The numerical advantage was restored, as Bougherra’s charges took over the game and pushed without succeeding in finding the way to breaking the deadlock.

On the restart of the second stanza, the pressure increased as the two teams matched each other stride-to-stride with Algeria claiming over 65% possession, and more than eleven created chances but they failed several times in the final third.

The game was headed for extra time, when redemption came for the hosts( 90+6) on a penalty skillfully executed by the competition’s top scorer, Mahious, who stood Folly up with his usual technique.

Two minutes later, the referee put an end to a game which severely tested the nerves of supporters at Nelson Mandela-Baraki. Algeria awaits the winner between Ghana and Niger in the semi-final build for January 31.