El Kaabi's Spectacular Goal Caps The Atlas Lions' Victory Over the Coelacanths in Africa Cup of Nations First Game.
Host nation Morocco shook off a anxious start to defeat their island opponents in the competition's inaugural fixture on the weekend, thanks to Brahim Díaz and super-sub Ayoub El Kaabi in the latter period.
This constituted a hardly emphatic performance, though, from the heavily tipped Moroccans, who sit 97 places above the tiny island nation in the world rankings and had to work tirelessly for the points in rainy conditions at Rabat's Prince Moulay Abdellah stadium.
Tense Beginning and Spurned Opportunities
Morocco missed an first-half penalty and were goalless at the interval even with dominating possession, eventually opening the scoring in the 55th minute.
The goal arrived after Noussair Mazraoui showed great skill to prevent the ball from going out before slipping it square for Díaz to sidefoot home.
“The opening game is invariably tough but we improved in the second period,” commented manager Regragui.
El Kaabi's Moment of Magic
Any lingering nerves was subsequently eased by a moment of pure genius from Ayoub El Kaabi. Only ten minutes after coming on, the striker met a cross with a stunning bicycle kick in the 74th minute, doubling and sealing the result.
Before that, the Moroccan team could have been the lead in the 11th minute after a penalty was given for a challenge on Díaz. However, Soufiane Rahimi penalty was saved by Comoros goalkeeper Yannick Pandor.
Comoros Resistance and Second-Half Chance
The underdogs stoutly defended against their more illustrious opponents for long periods before the hosts' greater quality in the end told.
Shot-stopper Pandor made several other good stops to keep down the score as the game wore on, even though his team did have a clear opportunity for an equaliser shortly after the first goal, with Saïd firing straight at Morocco goalkeeper Bounou.
Fitness Worry for Hosts
The three points was somewhat marred by an injury to Morocco's captain, Romain Saïss, who limped off in the first half in some distress.
The centre-back had only returned to the international setup recently after a lengthy layoff caused by a serious ankle operation.
The win extends Morocco's record-breaking run of consecutive victories to 19, beating the old record of 15 set by the Spanish national team between 2008 and 2009.
