SAN FRANCISCO, November 16, (THEWILL) –Â Zimbabwe played out a 2-2 draw at home against the Desert Foxes of Algeria in a hotly contested Group H African Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifiers match at the National Sports Stadium, Harare. It was a clash of the contenders in the group and the Zimbabweans gave a good account of themselves.
What appeared to be a runaway victory from the top of the first half after Andy Delort and Manchester City’s Riyad Mahrez had converted to put Algeria in front was turned around by the very impressive Knowledge Musona and the rally of Prince Dube to even out the fixture and make sure the points were shared.
The first half started out in a trot for both sides as they went looking for a lead from kickoff. Free kicks were squandered by both sides and Zimbabwe already had two yellow cards to show for their troubles before the half-hour mark.
Then, in the 34th minute, the deadlock was broken. Derlot was allowed to head freely in the opposition box and it was 1-0 in favour of the Algerians. Merely four minutes later and the Algerians had doubled their lead. Mahrez showed quick feet against the Zimbabwe defenders and struck home to make it 2-0.
Musona finally made his freekicks count when in the 44th minute he was able to bury the ball in the Algerian net. That gave the hosts a breather to take into the break and the confidence to go for the equaliser when the game resumed.
Musona was at the heart of almost everything creative going forward for the Zimbabweans, crossing in corner kicks, taking free kicks and trying to get someone to score in the final third. But the scoreline remained the same until late.
In the 82nd minute, the hosts found their goal to level the scores. Prince Dube, who had just been introduced as a substitute for Darikwa, tapped in the ball from a corner kick.
The game ended with both teams all square but with Zimbabwe edging Algeria in the possession statistics and having created a bit more chances in total than their visitors. However, with group leader Algeria now on ten points in the standings and Zimbabwe second on five, it will take a total crumbling of the Algerians for the Warriors of Zimbabwe to qualify in their stead.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
