Morocco opened their Africa Cup of Nations campaign on a winning note after thrashing ten-man Tanzania 3-0 on Wednesday evening.
Africa Cup of Nations
Result: Morocco 3-0 Tanzania
Date: 17 January 2024
Venue: Stade Laurent Pokou
The first and only African FIFA World Cup semi-finalists, Morocco's line-up was star-studded, including Hakim Ziyech, Youssef En Nesyri, Sofyan Amrabat and Achraf Hakimi.
Despite a world-class starting team, the Atlas Lions were evenly matched with Tanzania in the early exchanges but after exchanging blows, they started gain the upper hand midway into the first stanza.
Walid Regragui's charges eventually went ahead with their first attempt on target on the half-hour mark after Romain Saiss reacted quickly to a rebound in the box to score into a gaping net after shot-stopper Aishi Manula parried away Ziyech's swerving free-kick.
Morocco could still not get the flow they were looking for after going ahead and managed the game to head to the interval with a narrow lead.
The Atlas Lions continued to struggle to break down the Taifa Stars but were doing just enough to keep the East African nation at bay.
Adel Amrouche's troops upped their game after the hour-mark, as they started to hold the ball for longer periods but they suffered a setback with 20 minutes to go, as they were reduced to ten men after Novas Miroshi got a second yellow card for a bad challenge and was sent off.
Morocco found more spaces as Azzedine Ounahi doubled their lead and put the game to bed ten minutes later with a first-time shot in the box after a cut-back.
The Atlas Lions were full of confidence after that as En Nesyri made it 3-0 three minutes later with another first-time shot after a diagonal through ball by Hakimi.
Morocco were threatening to run riot, as Bilal El Khannouss had a big chance in stoppage time after a rebound found him unmarked at the back post but he was denied by Manula from close-range.
The North African giants clocked maximum points in Group F that also has Democratic Republic of Congo and Zambia, who followed later in the evening.
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