Frank Mhango put Malawi ahead before Youssef En-Nesyri equalised on the stroke of half-time and Achraf Hakimi struck a brilliant free-kick to take Morocco through to the last 8.
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Achraf Hakimi curled in a superb long-range free-kick as Morocco came from behind to beat Malawi 2-1 in the Africa Cup of Nations round of 16 fixture at the Ahmadou Ahidjou Stadium on Tuesday. Malawi took the lead through Frank Mhango’s sensational striker from 40 metres out before Youssef En-Nesyri equalised on the stroke of half-time. Morocco will meet either Ivory Coast or Egypt in their quarter-final encounter in Yaounde. A moment of silence was observed before kick-off in memory of those killed at Yaounde’s Olembe Stadium on Monday night.
There’s nothing like a ??????? ????? ???! ? OFF to #AFCON2021 quarter-finals ?#DimaMaghrib ?? #AtlasLions #TeamMorocco pic.twitter.com/bI2B7eVjPf
— FRMF (@FRMFOFFICIEL) January 25, 2022
The players wore black armbands and messages of condolences were displayed on the advertising hoardings. Morocco were clearly the favourites, but after a tournament littered with upsets, Malawi threatened to cause another as Mhango struck first in the seventh minute. The Orlando Pirates star, who was closer to the halfway line than the goal, spotted Morocco goalkeeper Yassine Bounou off his line and struck a powerful shot into the top corner. A back-pedalling Bounou got a hand to it but couldn’t prevent an outstanding goal.
He then had another chance from a quick counter-attack in the 24th minute to extend the lead but Mhango’s shot went just wide. Malawi, who are participating in only their third Cup of Nations finals and getting past the first round for the first time were threatening to shake-up the heavyweight opponents.
After the initial burst from Malawi, Morocco slowly started to get into the game, they were dominating the ball possession and Malawi goalkeeper Charles Thomu made a series of fine saves to keep his side’s lead intact.
Also read: AFCON 2022: Heavyweights Nigeria and Egypt through to knockout stages
Sofiane Boufal and El-Nesyri both went close, Wolves defender Romain Saiss struck the crossbar from close range and Hakimi was denied by Thomu. However, Morocco finally leveled the score in first-half injury-time. En-Nesyri’s powerful header slipped through Thomu’s hands and into the net .
After the break, Morocco started strongly but failed to press home their advantage. They felt they should have had a penalty when the ball struck the trailing hand of Malawi defender Dennis Chenbezi, but it was rejected after a VAR check.
Morocco put their nose in front in the 70th minute. Hakimi struck a brilliant free-kick, curled over the wall and into the near top corner. Morocco, who won the competition in 1976, have had a horror run at the tournament since they reached the 2004 final and lost to hosts Tunisia. The North African nation has only reached the quarterfinals once since 2004.
