Morocco beat Algeria in the dying moments to win Women's Africa Cup of Nations clash

[p]After a heated pre-match atmosphere, during which the Algerian national anthem was booed loudly by the Moroccan crowd turned out in large numbers at the Prince Moulay Hassan Stadium - which, incidentally, was not a full house as previously announced - the match itself got off to a very tentative start.[/p][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/morocco/IButJ9mf/"]Morocco[/a] dominated proceedings and launched a flurry of shots without ever managing to hit the target, whilst [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/algeria/CdsPai41/"]Algeria[/a] packed their defence in front of their goal and successfully cut out every cross.[/p][p]The first shot on target came from [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/ikene-morgane/OGlHppe4/"]Morgane Ikene[/a], who accelerated down the right flank and fired in a long-range shot across goal, which [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/errmichi-khadija/na7ZxaB6/"]Khadija Errmichi[/a] gathered in two attempts after controlling it with her chest (33rd minute).[/p][p]Then tensions flared between the two sides: following a very borderline tackle by [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/belloumou-ines/SthH893G/"]Belloumou[/a] on [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/ouzraoui-diki-sakina/n7hkYICP/"]Sakina Ouzraoui[/a] as she was racing down the right flank - which earned her a yellow card (34th minute) - it was [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/ait-el-haj-hanane/vZ3RvLtf/"]Hanane Ait El Haj[/a]’s turn to be shown a yellow card following a retaliatory tackle on Belloumou, who had committed a foul moments earlier (36th minute). In midfield, [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/kawtar-azraf/QHYRuqBT/"]Kautar Azraf[/a] tried to make the difference with a lobbed pass to [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/jraidi-ibtissam/MsPa7eot/"]Ibtissam Jraidi[/a], but the striker was flagged offside (43').[/p][h2]Mssoudy breaks the deadlock for Morocco[/h2][p]After the break, Algeria showed more initiative and twice broke into the Lionesses of the Atlas’s penalty area, notably forcing Errmichi into a fine save from [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/bendris-lynda/dQlyIMQp/"]Lynda Bendris[/a], who was bearing down on goal (48th minute).[/p][p]Morocco appealed for a penalty following a header duel from a corner, where [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/esam-atiq/M7zLjTKU/"]Maryama Atiq[/a] smashed the ball towards two Algerian defenders, one of whom ended up touching it with her hand as she went in to clear. The referee waved play on (53'). From a long-range free-kick, [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/dafeur-marine/GCkOGRhJ/"]Marine Dafeur[/a] hit the target but found the gloves of the Moroccan goalkeeper, who gathered the ball without faltering (68').[/p][p]Azraf also took a fine free-kick from the centre of the pitch, lobbing the ball to find Jraidi making a run. It was well struck, but she failed to find enough support after a pull-back that went unchallenged (71st minute). Morocco’s biggest chance certainly fell to [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/mssoudy-sanaa/E1Hh3YYH/"]Sanaa Mssoudy[/a], who threw herself forward to meet a fine free-kick from [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/chebbak-g/IJJKj0dO/"]Ghizlane Chebbak[/a] - who had come on in the 70th minute - with a header from point-blank range. It was on target but saved by Chloe N’Gazi (76th minute).[/p][embed guid="8fbd626a-43a7-40d2-9744-6c83ad566c47" url="https://x.com/CAFwomen/status/2082948357362708543?s=20" social-type="twitter" /][p]In fact, it was her who put Morocco ahead less than 10 minutes later: following a Chebbak corner cleared by the Algerian defence, the ball fell to [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/nakkach-elodie/nLq8CFkR/"]Elodie Nakkach[/a], who played a superb lobbed pass to Mssoudy. [b]She took advantage of the Algerian defence’s poor positioning to control the ball and fire home a crisp, low shot, 1–0 (86th minute)[/b].[/p][p]A deserved result for Morocco, who had 11 shots - three on target - compared with Algeria’s three shots (two on target), and 0.75 xG to Algeria’s 0.07 xG. Morocco therefore take sole top spot in Group A with 6 points and a goal difference of +5, ahead of second-placed Algeria on 3 points and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/senegal/EROqZ82m/"]Senegal[/a], also on 3 points, who beat [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/kenya/IBMrpyqQ/"]Kenya[/a] 1-0 on Thursday.[/p][p]Morocco are not yet definitively through to the quarter-finals, but it would take a major twist of fate for the runners-up from the last edition to be knocked out in the group stage. The Moroccan women will face Senegal on the final matchday, whilst Algeria will take on Kenya in a decisive final matchday to determine the top two places qualifying for the next round.[/p][p][b][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/soccer/algeria-CdsPai41/morocco-IButJ9mf/?mid=KMdziatI"]View the match stats on Flashscore.[/a][/b][/p]