”Stage fright” befall Niger in Mauling At CHAN semi against Algeria

Niger fell short in the semi-final of the TotalEnergies African Nations Championship (CHAN) after a mauling in the hands of hosts Algeria, at a full house in the Miloud Hadefi stadium.

A double from forward Aimen Mahious, two others from skipper, Abdellaoui and Bayazid coupled with Katkore’s own goal made it a night to forget for the Menas.

Algeria started in strong fashion and got their reward after a quarter of the game. Goalkeeper Kassali Djibo usually commanding in his area, flopped his lines as he spilled a cross which was converted by captain Ayoub Abdellaoui for 1-0.

Algeria just passed Niger into submission with literally no space for the men of Harouna Doula to work the ball out of their own half.

From that moment when the opener was scored, it became the Aimen Mahious show. The USM Algier forward blasted pass Djibo having found space in-behind Niger’s defense at the 23rd minute.

Mahious completed his brace four minutes after the half hour mark, heading in from a perfectly timed cross to get the game well beyond Niger’s reach. Aimen Mahious is now the competition’s leading scorer with 5 goals in 5 matches.

Niger conceded a fourth at the cusp of halftime. Captain Abdoulaye Katkore could not sort his body posture out and Belkhither’s cross struck him flush on the midriff which pretty much summed Niger’s ungraceful evening.

It was the first time in the tournament that a single team scored as many goals prior to halftime, and Niger needed quick answers.

Coach Harouna Doula made a couple of substitutions, five in total, before the 72nd minute.

Madjid Bougherra equally responded with some changes of his own, taking off Mahious who was a card away from getting a suspension from the final.

One of Bougherra’s second half substitutes, Soufiane Bayazid closed the scoring at the 83rd minute to put the icing on result after a long VAR review.

Algeria are now a step from the trophy in the tournament they host. It is the first time that the Desert Foxes reach the final of the competition since 2009.

Algeria will take on either Senegal or Madagascar, who play at the Nelson Mandela stadium later this evening.