The Democratic Republic of Congo narrowly edged past Morocco with a 1-0 victory in their Group C clash at the African Nation’s Cup on Monday night.
It was battle of tactics in the first half, with neither side willing to let their guard down, although Morocco enjoyed the better chances as Herve Renard’s charges looked to gain the upper hand.
Mbark Boussoufa came close early on, his brilliant strike rattling the crossbar as The Atlas Lions signalled their intent, before Aziz Bouhaddouz’s pinpoint throughball minutes later almost found teammate Nabil Dirar, who was unfortunately offside.
DR Congo’s best chance of the first half came via the boot of Cedric Bakumba, his fast reactions and quick turn allowing him to get a shot away, yet it was a comfortable save for the opposition goalkeeper.
Goalless at the break, Morocco started off the better of the two sides once again in the second half, yet against the run of play, Congo went in front: the Moroccan defence failed to deal with a cross which fell kindly for Junior Kabananga who volleyed home the opener.
Morocco continued to pour forward in search of the leveller, Mehdi Carcela-Gonzalez firing a free-kick off-target as Congolese goalkeeper Ley Matampi made a superb stop with his legs to deny substitute Youssef El-Nesyri’s shot, before the midfielder fired over from close range.
DR Congo’s substitute defender Lomalisa Mutambala was shown a second yellow with ten minutes to go, before his side went down to nine men as Ndombe Mabule limped off injured.
Yet following a nervy six minutes of added time, the final whistle blew with DR Congo holding on to their 1-0 win and with it, the early lead in Group C.