Guinea throws Group D wide open by beating Flames 1-0 as Ethiopia stun Egypt 2-0 in Lilongwe

Guinea celebrate their late winner

Maravi Express

Naby Keita scored late into added time as hosts Guinea beat Malawi 1-0 at the General Lansana Conte Stadium in Conakry, to storm to their first victory in the qualifiers to tie on 3 points with the Flames, Ethiopia and Egypt.

The Flames earned their 3 points last Sunday when they beat Ethiopia 2-1 at Bingu Stadium in Lilongwe while Guinea lost to Egypt 1-0 and on Thursday the Ethiopians stunned the Pharaohs 2-0 in their match also played in Lilongwe.

Ethiopia are using Bingu National Stadium as their home after their main home pitch was declared unfit but for the away games against the Flames, they shall choose an alternative venue.

With the victory against the Flames, Guinea moved to third in third place below Malawi after Keita struck the winner for the home side in the game that seemed to be heading for a draw.

It was a well deserved win after Guinea put in more pressure and looking more hungry.

Both sides had some chances in the opening half in which Keita had a go at goal in the 27th minute when he stretched out his feet to connect to a cross from the right but it went wide.

In the 34th minute, midfielder Amadou Diawara had a chance for Guinea when he rose at the backpost to connect to a corner, but he headed just wide.

At the tail end of the first half, Malawi had a chance when Khuda Muyaba broke away on the right and into the box, but the effort was blocked by the hawk eyed Guinean keeper.

It remained a close encounter in the second half and the best chance fell on Guinea, with Serhou Guirassy missing a golden opportunity as he slashed a shot just wide off a cross from the left two minutes after the restart.

Substitute Ilaix Moriba also had a chance with an 85th minute freekick from range, but he struck it inches over the bar.

In Lilongwe, the record African champions Egypt were without their star forward Mohamed Salah, who missed the game due to injury and his absence was felt as first half goals from Dawa Hotessa and skipper Shemeles Bekele earned Ethiopia a well deserved victory.

Hotessa broke the deadlock after 21 minutes with a sliding finish that beat keeper Mohamed Abou Gabal. The forward stretched in to direct the ball home after some fine work from Abubaker Nasser who had done the donkey work on the right to lay in a cross.

Just before the goal, Ethiopia had tested Gabal with Gatuoch Panom’s shot from distance which the keeper calmly collected.

Nasser came inches close to making it 2-0 for Ethiopia in the 24th minute when he ran on to a through ball from the middle, but his shot past the keeper hit the upright and rolled away.

He thought he had scored in the 34th minute when he tapped home a cross from the right, but the referee’s flag was up for offside.

The Walia Ibex however finished the half with the second goal five minutes to the break through Bekele’s thumping shot from inside the box. The skipper had started the move himself, spreading to Amanuel Gebremichael who played him through on goal.

After the goal Egypt made a surprising decision to throw in three changes, Magdy Afsha, Amr el Solia and Ayman Ashraf all coming off for Ibrahim Adel, Kamal Omar and Mohanad Lasheen.

Despite the changes, Ethiopia still forced them to play deep in the second half and their ambition to get a way back into the match wasn’t as successful.

Elsewhere, Morocco’s super sub Ayoub El Kaabi stepped off the bench to score a sublime 88th minute winner as the atlas came from a goal down to beat a stubborn South Africa side 2-1 in their opening Group K match.

Bafana shot stopper Ronwen Williams had put on a superb show to keep his side in the game, but he was breached with a late winner as the Atlas Lions started off their campaign on a winning note at home.

Youssef En Nesyri had scored a second half equalizer to cancel out Lyle Foster’s seventh minute goal, and El Kaabi ensured all points were guarded with a volleyed finish two minutes to full time.

In Abuja Nigeria staged a first-half comeback to defeat a difficult Sierra Leone side in their opening Group A game with goals from Alex Iwobi and Victor Osimhen seeing the Super Eagles cancel out Jonathan Morsay’s lead to record a 2-1 victory under new coach Jose Peseiro at the Moshood Abiola National Stadium.

In Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, where Burundi will be staging their home matches, Karl Toko Ekambi’s expertly executed freekick in the first half as Cameroon won 1-0 over Burundi.

Sudan bounced back from their opening day defeat against Mauritania to beat DR Congo 2-1 in Omdurman while Benin suffered back to back losses after going down by a solitary goal at home in their second match-day.

Congo made amends from their opening day loss on Wednesday after pipping Gambia 1-0 in Brazzaville while Rami Bensebaini and Mohamed El Amine Amoura scored in either half as Algeria won 2-0 away to Tanzania’s Taifa Stars at the National Stadium in Dar es Salaam on Wednesday, making it back to back victories in the qualifiers.

Uganda’s AFCON qualification hopes suffered a blow when they were held by Niger 1-1 on Wednesday.

Having lost in the opening group game in the qualifiers against Algeria, the Cranes could not take advantage of their home ground as they were held at home at the St. Mary’s Stadium in Kitende in the Group F game.

Champions Senegal late Sadio Mane penalty in stoppage time enabled them to defeat Rwanda 1-0 on Tuesday, a victory that ensured them maximum points after two matches in Group L while Zambia revived their AFCON qualifying campaign with 2-1 win over Comoros.

Zambia produced a spirited performance to come from behind to prevail 2-1 over Comoros in their second group game in the 2023 TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations qualifier on Tuesday.

Burkina Faso scored three second-half goals to come from behind to beat ten-man Eswatini 3-1 to maintain their perfect start while

Equatorial Guinea revived their chances by beating Libya 2-0 in Malabo on Monday night.