SAN FRANCISCO, November 13, (THEWILL) –Â The eight-goal thriller that was the match between the Super Eagles of Nigeria and the Leone Stars of Sierra Leone was not the only fixture for Friday’s African Cup of Nations AFCON qualifiers for the 2022 continental tournament.
THEWILL presents a round up of results of AFCON Qualifiers played across the continent on Friday.
Mali 1-0 Namibia
Mali hosted a Group A tie at the Stade 26 Mars in Bamako where they traded tackles with Namibia. The Malians had the chance to equal the points tally of Group leaders Guinea with victory and be joint-top holders while a Namibian win could have brought them to within breathing distance of the top as it will have propelled them to second on the table.
In the end, chances were not easy to come by for both sides and the two coaches introduced a fair number of substitute players especially in the second half. However, a 33rd minute penalty which Malian El Bilal Toure converted settled matters giving the win to the hosts and bringing them equal on points with Guinea in their group.
The reverse fixture will take place on Tuesday, November 17 with Namibia hosting.
South Africa 2-0 Sao Tome and Principe
In a Group C fixture played out at the FNB Stadium (Soccer City), Johannesburg, the hosts, the Bayana Bayana of South Africa ran away as 2-0 winners against Sao Tome and Principe. The win takes the South Africans to second on the log with six points from three matches and keeps the visitors entrenched at the bottom with no point to their name on the table.
The first goal did not materialise until the 55th minute while the second half was already underway. Percy Tau stepped up to take and convert a penalty awarded to South Africa by the referee. Although it was believed that the South Africans will thoroughly trounce the Sao Tome and Principe side, Bayana Bayana could not record another successful breach of the visitor’s defence.
Then, in the 90th minute, Bongani Zungu double South Africa’s lead and ensured that all three points were in the bag for Bayana Bayana.
Group C is now delicately poised with an increment of threes from the bottom to the top. Ghana has nine points with their 100% record so far, South Africa is next with six points followed by Sudan with three points and at rock bottom is Sao Tome and Principe with zero points from three matches played so far.
For the second leg of the qualifiers which is billed for Monday, November 16, Sao Tome and Principe will host.
Morocco 4-1 Central African Republic
The North African side, Morocco, put some distancing between themselves and their opponents the Central African Republic (CAR) as they beat the latter 4-1 in the Round 3, Group A qualifier for the 2022 African Cup of Nations. Although the CAR managed a levelling goal when the score was 1-0, there was no stopping the marauding horde of the Moroccan strike force.
The hosts were off their paces from the start and their probing persistence paid off in the 10th minute. Achraf Hakimi was responsible for opening the scoring but Louis Mafouta had the ball in the net for CAR only fifteen minutes after Hakimi’s goal.
Later, a Moroccan penalty was converted by Hakim Ziyech just after the half hour mark. The new Chelsea marksman was on call again two minutes later when he doubled his tally for the day with Morocco’s third goal.
After a couple of substitutions and a yellow card shown to CAR’s Geoffrey Kondogbia, Zakaria Aboukhalal, who was on for the first goal scorer Hakimi, netted one of his own in the 64th minute to ensure all the spoils remain with the hosts.
The win means Morocco top Group A with seven points, Mauritania is second with five points, CAR have three points and are third while at the bottom of the log is Burundi with only one point. The two sides will meet again on Tuesday, November 17 and this time it will be CAR hosting.
Tunisia 1-0 Tanzania
A lone goal was all Tunisia needed to triumph over Tanzania in their African Cup of Nations (AFCON) Group J fixture played at the Stade Olympique de Rades, Rades in Tunisia. Having taken maximum points from the first two matches of the qualifying series, the Tunisians knew that a win against the Tanzanians will take them to nine points and the top of the log and more or less secure their confirmation.
The goal that won it for Tunisia came off of the boots of Youssef Msakni who put a penalty kick safely into the net in the 18th minute. Apart from a pair of yellow cards and substitutions in the later part of the second half, there were no further goals in the game.
The reverse fixture comes up on Tuesday, November 17 in Tanzania.
Niger 1-0 Ethiopia
This 1-nil win was similar to all the others with just a slight difference. It came in the 73rd minute of the African Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifier fixture for a Group A clash. It was, in keeping with most of the goals on Friday for AFCON, a spot kick.
After a tight encounter with each side not allowing the other to break the deadlock. Yet, Niger won a penalty. Youssef Oumarou hit the ball into the net with the Nigerien’s holding on to make sure of the victory.
For the return leg, the Nigeriens travel to Ethiopia on Tuesday, November 17.
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.
