Algeria and Guinea met at the 30 June Stadium in Cairo on Sunday evening to do battle in the round of 16 of the 2019 African Cup of Nations.
Algeria finished top of Group C with a maximum of nine points, ahead of Senegal, Kenya and Tanzania.
Guinea on the other hand finished third in Group B, and got through to the knockout stages only due to a 2-o win over Burundi in the last round.
Team News
Djamel Belmadi in the Algeria dugout chose the following 11:
Rais M’Bolhi was in goal. The back four consisted of Ramy Bensebaini and Aissa Mandi as the centre-back pair, with Youcef Attal and Djameleddine Benlamri on either side. Adlene Guedioura and Ismael Bennacer held the middle of the park, with Riyad Mahrez on the right and Sofiane Feghouli on the left. Baghdad Bounedjah was joined by Mohamed Youcef Belaili upfront.
Unable to count on midfielder Naby Keita who left the tournament injured, Guinea coach Paul Put arranged his men like this:
Ibrahim Kone stood between the posts. Ernest Seka and Simon Falette were the last line of defence, with Issaiga Sylla and Mikael Dyrestam covering their flanks. Amadou Diawara was the deepest midfielder, with Ibrahima Cisse, Ibrahima Traore and Mohamed Mady Camara ahead of him. Mohamed Yattara and Jose Kante paired up in attack.
The First Half
After a defensive mistake almost caused serious problems for them in the opening minutes, Algeria took control and pushed forward. They played rather directly, without much dawdling on the ball and looking to engage the strikers as quickly as possible.
There was a lot of physicality in the early stages of the game and both teams showed nerves, which resulted in a booking apiece within 15 minutes as Camara and Guedioura both saw the yellow card raised against them by referee Bernard Camille.
The first chance for Algeria came on the stroke of 20 minutes as Guedioura’s lovely cross fooled Seka and found Bounedjah in the box. The striker controlled the ball well before sending it over the bar from a really good position. They had another one soon afterwards as Bensebaini managed to hit the target with an attractive volley prompting a good save from Kone, and in the next move they were up.
Belaili played a one-two with Bounedjah and broke through Guinea’s defence down the left, before deftly hitting the inside of the side netting past Kone.
1-0.
Algeria continued playing in the same way and their domination didn’t waver, but there was a rare moment of Guinea breaking forward in the 33rd minute which ended with Dyrestam very lucky to escape a booking for an obvious dive inside the box. Mahrez threatened dangerously at the other end within 60 seconds, but Sylla did extremely well to ward him off.
With five minutes to go before the break, Seka was dispossessed by Bounedjah who then combined with Mahrez and Belaili, but the scorer of the opening goal failed to hit the target this time with a cunning attempt.
The Second Half
Guinea entered the second period a lot better. They succeeded to turn their possession more meaningful than before and were spending far more time in the opposition half, but they still couldn’t create a proper chance to trouble M’Bolhi in the Algeria goal until the 54th minute, when Camara finally tested the Algeria goalkeeper with an awkward strike from range, which M’Bolhi tipped over the bar.
Put then decided to freshen his ranks up a bit and he sent on Fode Koita instead of Kante.
That, however, didn’t stop Riyad Mahrez from putting some distance between the two sides in the 57th minute. The Manchester City winger took advantage of a good cross from Bennacer and a mistake by Sylla to put the ball past Kone and into the net from around 15 yards.
2-0.
Guinea’s initiative soon dwindled, and Mahrez almost added a third goal for his team nine minutes after the second as he latched onto a pullback by Bounedjah whose persistence enabled him to win the ball high up, but Kone did well to stop Mahrez’s effort from close range.
Put’s response was to make his second change of the game, and he withdrew the barely visible Cisse to make way for Alhassane Bangoura – a slightly more attack-minded player.
But Guinea’s problems seemed to be stemming from the middle of the park. There was simply no player there capable of taking responsibility, keeping possession under pressure or picking out an incisive pass, and it was all too easy for Bennacer, Guedioura and Feghouli to keep the area under Algeria’s control.
With 15 minutes to go, Belmadi made his first change – Adam Ounas came on for Belaili. Three minutes later, Put made his last as Francois Kamano came on to replace Yattara. The substitutions kept coming with Hichem Boudaoui replacing Guedioura for Algeria.
The game threatened to end with very little life, but it suddenly sprang alive in the 82nd minute as Ounas made the most of a great pass from Atal to settle the matter.
3-0.
With the game in the bag, Belmadi replaced his arguably best performer of the evening Bounedjah with Andy Delort.
Guinea tried to push forward late on, but they had absolutely nothing but pride to play for at that point. And still their attempts seemed half-hearted, even feeble. They came closest in the 92nd minute but Koita was too late to divert a low cross from the left towards the goal.
The Afterthought
Algeria deservedly go through to the quarterfinals, there can be no question about that. The difference in quality between the two teams was far too big for Guinea to overcome. They can leave the tournament with their heads held high, knowing that they did everything they could, but it simply wasn’t enough to stop an opponent notably superior.
Match Report
ALGERIA: M’Bolhi 7, Bensebaini 7, Mandi 7, Attal 7.5, Benlamri 7, Feghouli 7.5, Bennacer 7.5, Guedioura 7.5 (82′ Boudaoui N/A) , Mahrez 7.5, Bounedjah 8.5 (83′ Delort), Belaili 8 (77′ Ounas 7.5).
GUINEA: Kone 7.5, Seka 6, Falette 5.5, Sylla 7, Dyrestam 6.5, Diawara 6, Traore 6.5, Cisse 5 (68′ Bangoura 6), Camara 7, Yattara 5 (78′ Kamano N/A), Kante 6.5 (56′ Koita 6.5).
GOALS: Belaili 24′, Mahrez 57′, Ounas 82′.
YELLOW CARDS: Camara 6′, Guedioura 14′, Kante 54′,
REFEREE: Bernard Camille (Seychelles).
DATE & VENUE: July 7, 2019, 30 June Stadium, Cairo, Egypt.
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