Morocco beat Algeria 1-0 to go top of Group A at the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations. It took them 84 minutes.
Sanaâ Mssoudy scored in the 84th minute. It was the only big chance of the match, counting both sides.
And it ended a long run. Algeria had not conceded at the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations since 2018: they arrived with five clean sheets and 506 minutes behind them. They held out for 84 more.
Algeria had three attempts in ninety minutes. Not one from inside the box.
All three came from distance and totalled 0.07 expected goals. Morocco totalled 0.75.
Morocco had eleven attempts and Algeria blocked five of them.
The match changed after the interval. In the first half Morocco shot four times and put none on target. In the second they had seven attempts, three on target, and their expected goals rose from 0.23 to 0.52.
Mssoudy shot twice, both from inside the box and both on target. Her goal was worth 0.33 in chance quality and 0.90 once struck: she hit it far better than the situation promised.
Algeria defended with their bodies. They made 24 clearances to Morocco’s eleven and attempted 32 tackles, winning 21.
They also committed 27 fouls to twenty. The referee showed four yellow cards, two to each side: Hanane Ait El Haj and Kautar Azraf for Morocco, Ikram Adjabi and Inès Belloumou for Algeria.
Both goalkeepers made two saves. Khadija Er-Rmichi conceded none; Chloé N’Gazi conceded Mssoudy’s.
Ghizlane Chebbak started on the bench and came on in the 70th minute. She touched the ball four times. Ait El Haj wore the armband.
The player she replaced was Ibtissam Jraidi, who had touched the ball six times in seventy minutes.
Sakina Ouzraoui contested 24 duels, more than any other player on the pitch, and did not have a single attempt.
It was the first meeting between the two at a Women’s Africa Cup of Nations finals.
Morocco top the group on six points. Algeria and Senegal have three; Kenya none.
The group concludes on 3 August with Senegal v Morocco and Kenya v Algeria.