CHAN 2020: defending champion Morocco dominates Togo for entry into contention
Yahya Jabrane (n ° 5) celebrates with his Moroccan teammates his goal scored against Togo, January 18, 2021. © Pierre René-Worms / RFI
Text by: Nicolas Bamba Follow
4 min
The Moroccan selection won against Les Éperviers, this Monday, January 18, in the first match of group C of CHAN 2020 in Cameroon.
Dominators, the reigning champions, however, had to be content with a single goal, scored from a penalty by Yahya Jabrane, to win in Douala (1-0).
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Imperial during the previous CHAN at home, Morocco assumed its status as favorite on Monday for its debut in this
Cameroonian CHAN
.
After the success of Cameroon and Mali on Saturday (group A), then that of the DRC on Sunday (group B), the Atlas Lions also wanted to succeed in their first steps against Togo, their first opponent in group C. And it seems that 1-0 is the score in vogue in this start of CHAN: this is, once again, what the scoreboard displayed at the final whistle of this Morocco-Togo in Douala, at the stadium of Reunification.
Before the kick-off, a minute of silence was observed in memory of Jamal Jaafari, former president of the Libyan Football Federation and former member of the CAF Executive Committee, whose death was announced on Monday.
He was infected with Covid-19.
Then, the meeting began, with an almost unchanged pattern throughout the 90 minutes: Togo was dominated by their opponent.
Level of control = 💯 # TotalCHAN2020 |
#MARTOG pic.twitter.com/y1m8zjv5JB
- # TotalCHAN2020 (@CAF_Online) January 18, 2021
Jabrane scorer on a penalty withdrawn
Ayoub El Kaabi
, top scorer of the previous CHAN (9 goals) and captain of Morocco this year, struggled at the top, but it was from a defensive midfielder that the light came during the first act.
Dominating, the Moroccans got a penalty when Togolese Kokouvi Dodzi Amekoubi hit Yahya Jabrane in the penalty area, while the latter was cocking a strike.
Yahya Jabrane wanted to take justice into his own hands.
Abdoul-Mubarak Aïgba, the Togolese goalkeeper, made a beautiful parade by leaping to his right, but his joy was short-lived: the goalkeeper left his goal line when the Moroccan shot, which is prohibited by the regulation.
Consequence of which, the referee had this penalty withdrawn.
And on his second attempt, Yahya Jabrane changed sides and this time hit the mark (27th).
It's hard for Togo, but the man with the whistle applied the rules.
Although led to the score, the Sparrowhawks failed to raise their heads.
Still dominated by the Atlas Lions, they only shot on goal a handful of times, framing only one distant attempt by Marouf Tchakei at the end of the game (84th).
But Anas Zniti, the Moroccan goalkeeper, remained vigilant.
The supporters of CHAN could have made the break, but like El Kaabi, they either lacked address or found Aïgba on their way.
The Togolese goalkeeper notably released a beautiful shin parade against the captain at close range (81st).
While waiting for the result of Rwanda-Uganda, Morocco takes the lead of Group C thanks to this logical victory.
The Atlas Lions can see their next match against the Rwandans coming with a little more serenity, on January 22.
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