Angola 0-0 Morocco: The
Palancas Negras and Lions of
Atlas settled for a goalless
draw The Lions of the Atlas were
forced to a goalless draw by
Angola, who returned in
second half to dominate the
proceedings
Angola and
Morocco played a
goalless draw on
Saturday at the
Soccer City
stadium in Johannesburg in
the second match
of the 2013
Africa Cup of
Nations. Both sides were meeting each other for the sixth
time, with the Lions of Atlas
holding the historic advantage
after winning four of their
previous encounters and drawing
the last one 2-2 in Lisbon in 2009. Morocco went underway with a
frenetic pace, adopting their
traditional fluid play pattern and
quickly seizing control of the
midfield while forcing the Angolans
to beat retreat and cover their rearguard. Mounir El Hamdaoui, who left Ajax
last July for Fiorentina, got the
first goal chance of the game just
10 minutes from kickoff, when he
unleashed a lightning strike after
a breakaway effort, which forced a daring save from Angola
goalkeeper Lama. The Lions multiplied threatening
actions during the first quarter
of the meeting, opting to cut in
through the flanks into the
Angolan area but remained
unsuccessful in front of goal as the first half wore on. After connecting a cross from the
left flank, Liverpool forward
Oussama Assaidi jinxed into the
box area but after cleverly
evading two defenders he fluffed
his kick over the crossbar. A more agile Moroccan side
remained in the ascendancy by
the half hour mark of the faceoff
but still unable to bend out any
successful finish. Angola preferred to play low while
spying far off for possible
counters following the intense
pressure and domination of the
Moroccans. With their effort not yielding, the
North Africans tried to conserve
the ball in a bid to pull the
opposing team out of their
rearguard, but the Angolans were
clever enough to avoid the trap. Mateus of Primeira Liga side
Nacional was the boldest Angolan
forward during the first half, but
failed to hit the back net though.
His fine cross from the right near the 40th minute found no red shirt in the Moroccan area, which
could have changed the situation
in their favour. Mateus continued his menace on
the Moroccan defence but after
being set up on the edge of the
box he was obstructed by
Udinesse defender Mehdi Benatia,
which seemed very much like a fault but the Senegalese referee
ordered to play on. Morocco lost steam as the first
half wound out, with the Angolans
gradually getting on the board.
Mingo Bille of Primeiro de Agosto
was tripped 32 yards out, but
the ensuing free kick was buckled by Manucho, who put up a
modest showing during the first
half. Angola began the second half with
a stiffer determination and more
stable performance, as they
manned a continuous flow of
traffic towards the opposing goal,
with a now nervy Moroccan side struggling to clear the avalanche
of dangers coming their way and
committing nasty fouls in the
process. Coach Rachid Taoussi introduced
Montpellier midfielder Younes
Belhanda and Youssef El-Arabi of
Granada, in an attempt to inject
some strength to his side and
fend off the pressure, which paid off immediately as Nordin
Amrabat’s numerous crosses into
the Angolan area were now been
useful, which dragged back most
of the overlapping Angola players. Marco Airosa and Gilberto
completed the Palancas Negras
three-man substitution, which
was followed by a beautiful action
from Manucho, who picked up a
lose ball in the area but shot wide, with five minutes to time. Mateus blasted a strike on target
but the Moroccan goalkeeper
Lamyaghri gathered the effort.
Moments after, Mateus worked
down the right and squared in for
onrushing Manucho and Alfonso, but neither could get on the end
of the cross. The two sides had their great
moments. The first half was for
Morocco while Angola dominated
the second but neither could walk
off with a win.
Topic: AFCON 2013 Results (Read 1656 times)
