El Kaabi's Spectacular Strike Secures The Atlas Lions' Win Over Comoros in Afcon Opener.
Host nation the Moroccan side overcame a nervy start to defeat Comoros in the tournament's inaugural fixture on Sunday, with goals from Brahim Díaz and super-sub El Kaabi in the latter period.
This constituted a far from convincing performance, though, from the heavily tipped Moroccans, who sit 97 places higher than the tiny Indian Ocean nation in the FIFA rankings and had to work tirelessly for the three points in wet conditions at Rabat's Prince Moulay Abdellah stadium.
Tense Start and Missed Opportunities
Morocco missed an first-half spot-kick and were locked at 0-0 at half-time even with controlling the ball, eventually opening the scoring in the 11th minute of the second half.
It came when Noussair Mazraoui did well to keep the ball in play before slipping it square for Díaz to calmly pass home.
Every first match is never easy but we delivered in the second half,” said manager Regragui.
El Kaabi's Moment of Brilliance
The tension was then eased by a moment of sheer genius from Ayoub El Kaabi. Only ten minutes following coming on, the forward connected with a cross with a spectacular overhead kick in the 74th minute, making it two and ensuring the win.
Before that, the hosts could have been the lead in the 11th minute when a spot-kick was awarded for a foul on Brahim Díaz. Yet, Rahimi's penalty was saved by Comoros goalkeeper Pandor.
Comoros Defiant Stand and Late Chance
The underdogs comfortably held their more illustrious opponents for long periods before the Moroccans' greater quality eventually made the difference.
Goalkeeper Yannick Pandor pulled off a number of further good stops to keep down the score as the game progressed, even though his team created a chance for an equalizer shortly after the first goal, with Saïd firing straight at Morocco goalkeeper Bounou.
Fitness Worry for Hosts
The three points was partially overshadowed by an apparent injury to Morocco's captain, Romain Saïss, who limped off after the first half in some distress.
This defender had only made his comeback to the national side last month following a year’s layoff due to a serious ankle operation.
The win extends Morocco's historic run of successive victories to 19, beating the previous best of 15 set by Spain between 2008 and 2009.
