SAN PEDRO: Morocco scored early but the pre-tournament favourites had to share the points in a 1-1 draw with the Democratic Republic of Congo in their Africa Cup of Nations Group ‘F’ clash on Sunday.

Achraf Hakimi scored in the sixth minute for Morocco but the Congolese squandered a first half penalty before substitute Silas Katompa swept home a deserved 76th minute equaliser at the Laurent Pokou Stadium.

The result denied Morocco a chance to qualify early for the last-16 but they have four points which should be enough to progress while DR Congo have drawn their opening two matches.

Hakimi’s goal came from a corner as Congo were caught cold when the corner was finally taken, with the ball being missed by several defenders before the Paris St-Germain right back volleyed it home from close range.

Congo had a golden opportunity for an equaliser when a VAR check showed Selim Amallah had elbowed Henock Inonga on the side of the head as the two rivals went up for a corner.

Referee awarded the penalty to Congo but Cedric Bakambu hit a poor effort on the outside of the bottom of the upright.

Congo captain Chancel Mbemba came close from a corner soon after halftime but it took until the last quarter-hour of the game for the equaliser.

Meschack Elia pulled back the ball perfectly for Silas to time his run and equalise.

A similar cross one minute later from Elia saw some panicked defending before Morocco cleared the danger and there was another chance on the stroke of fulltime when Fiston Mayeles shot was tipped over his own crossbar by Morocco goalkeeper Yassine Bounou.

In Saturday’s late matches, Tunisia picked up their first point, coming from behind to draw 1-1 with Mali on Saturday in their second Group ‘E’ game while Angola moved closer to a place in the next stage as they beat Mauritania 3-2 in their Group ‘D’ clash.

Mali took an early lead through Lassine Sinayoko but Hamza Rafia equalised for Tunisia within 10 minutes at the Amadou Gon Coulibaly Stadium.

Tunisia had suffered an upset defeat in their opening game against Namibia while Mali beat South Africa the same evening and now top the standings with four points.

Gelson Dala scored a brace for Angola and winger Gilberto netted the other while Amar Sidi Bouna and Aboubakary Koita scored fine individual efforts for Mauritania.

Angola took over top spot with four points and are ahead of Burkina Faso on goals scored with top seeds Algeria third in the group on two points.

Published in Dawn, January 22nd, 2024