Aymen Mahious scored his 3rd winning goal of the African Nations Championship for taking hosts Algeria into the semi-finals with a last-gasp 1-0 win over Ivory Coast. Initially, the referee ignored added-time appeals for a foul. However, changed his decision to a penalty they reviewed the incident on the VAR pitch-side mirror.
Mahious scorer of the only goals in the group victories over Ethiopia and Libya, calmly slotted the 96th-minute spot kick into the corner of the net while Ayayi Folly, the goalkeeper hardly moved. Always, a solitary goal seems likely to settle a close, physical encounter before a near-capacity crowd at 40,000-seat Stade Nelson Mandela.
A straightforward chance to score was scarce with Mahious the focus of many Algerian attacks in the first half of the quarter-final. Both sides had been truncated to 10 men in the opening half, which kept the impressive referee on his toes. Alexis Guendouz, the Algeria goalkeeper had been the first to be dismissed when he had been charged out of his penalty area in the first 20 minutes and managed the ball when Sankara Karamoko had been fouled.
The advantage that Ivorians enjoyed lasted just 14 minutes, but, before Kouassi Attohoula was red-carded after a tackle, which left Mokhtar Belkhiter wincing with pain. After 4 matches in the capital, Algeria is going to travel west to Oran, the semi-final’s second-largest city showdown with Niger or Ghana.
They are appearing for the second time in the tournament and it is restricted to footballers who are playing in their birth country, Algeria hopes to improve on the 4th place finish 12 years ago in Sudan. Hosts have grappled traditionally in CHAN with Morocco, the 2019 winners the only 1 of 6 champions who maximized home advantage.