Riyad Mahrez scored a goal from a penalty kick midway through the first half, and Algeria's goal post denied Burkina Faso an equalizer before the break, and coach Vladimir Petkovic's team recovered from Hajjam's early injury to win 1-0 and qualify for the round of sixteen of the African Cup of Nations held in Morocco, Sunday.
Mohamed Amine Amoura also missed the opportunity to increase the score for Algeria from a one-on-one position before the end of the first half, but the two-time African champion raised its score to 6 points at the top of Group E, 3 points ahead of Burkina Faso, runner-up in the 2013 edition. The Sudanese national team, which won 1-0 over Equatorial Guinea earlier, also occupies third place with three points, while the Equatorial Guinea national team is at the bottom of the standings without any points.
Burkina Faso started the match promisingly and in the third minute demanded a penalty kick after Bertrand Traoré fell in the area, but the referee ordered play to continue. Amoura tried to penetrate Burkina Faso's defenses from the left side
But he lost the ball under pressure in the fifth minute, and the match was stopped in the eighth minute after Algeria defender Hajjam was injured and medical staff came in to treat him.After returning to the video assistant referee technology, the referee settled for a yellow card for Gustavo Sangari, the Burkina Faso player, as a result of a rough tackle on Hajjam. Algeria made an emergency substitution in the 13th minute, with the injured Hajjam leaving and Baghdad Bounedjah coming on.Algerian player Ibrahim Mazza shot a low ball from outside the area, but the goalkeeper blocked it in the 15th minute.Riyad Mahrez put Algeria ahead in the 23rd minute from a penalty kick awarded by the referee after obstructing Rayan Ait Nouri in the area. In the 26th minute, Burkina Faso player Edmond Tabsoba shot a long-range ball that passed without threatening the goal. Two minutes later, Burkina Faso executed a free kick in the middle of the Algiers stadium, which was received by Pierre Kabore with a shot that passed near the right post.In the 36th minute, Amoura shot a dangerous ball that went over the crossbar, while in the 41st minute, Burkina Faso executed a free kick from the left side of the center of the Algiers stadium...
The second half started quickly, with Burkina Faso trying to make up for it and Algeria wanting to kill the game, but play was concentrated in the middle of the field without much danger.The referee awarded a free kick to Burkina Faso on the outskirts of Algeria's penalty area in the 54th minute, but the defense ended the danger.Mahrez left the field in the 60th minute and was replaced by Zinedine Belaid.In the 66th minute, the Algerian national team almost added the second goal from a dangerous counterattack led by Mazza, but his attempt went too far.The same player returned to waste another opportunity three minutes later with a shot from inside the area that was brilliantly blocked by the goalkeeper. Hicham Boudawi shot a dangerous header to Algeria that passed near the right post in the 76th minute. Ait Nouri also shot a ground ball from inside the area, which was blocked by goalkeeper Hervé Koffi. Jorge Minongo responded with a dangerous shot for Burkina Faso from the edge of the area that went over the crossbar in the 80th minute.In the 83rd minute, Lassina Traoré shot a weak header, which was blocked by goalkeeper Luca Zidane.Zidane blocked another header in stoppage time...
