BLIDA, Algeria
Cameroon sealed the fifth and final African World Cup 2022 qualification slot in dramatic style on Tuesday night, defeating Algeria 2-1 after extra time at the Mustapha Tchaker Stadium in Blida to take the tie on away goals.
The Indomitable Lions join
Ghana, Senegal, Morocco and Tunisia as CAF representatives at Qatar 2022 thanks
to an injury-time strike at the end of 120 minutes from Karl Toko Ekambi which
stunned the home crowd and left the Desert Foxes in tears.
Algeria started strongly and
had a first clear chance on 13 minutes, when a ball stolen in midfield was fed
quickly to Riyad Mahrez, who cut inside from the right and curled a shot high
and wide.
Four minutes later they stung
the palms of Andre Onana for the first time, with defender Djamel Benlamri
shooting from long range to force a punching save from the Cameroon goalkeeper.
The Indomitable Lions
gradually grew into the game and claimed the lead somewhat against the run of
play in the 22nd minute: a corner kick saw Algeria goalkeeper Rais M’Bolhi
fumble in contact with one of his own defenders, and Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting
scored from the loose ball to make it 1-0 to the visitors on the night and 1-1
on aggregate.
Algeria should have levelled
the game on 28 minutes when Islam Slimani did well to steal the ball high up
the pitch before feeding a perfect low cross for Youcef Belaili, but the
Algeria number 10 struck wide of the target with only the ‘keeper to beat.Algeria coach Djamel Belmadi when Cameroon knocked them out of the World Cup in the 124th minute
The Desert Foxes piled on the
attacking pressure after the half-hour mark, twice having strong appeals for
penalties turned down (with VAR backing referee Bakary Gassama’s on-field
decisions) – much to the frustration of the home crowd.
The first half came to a close
with the Indomitable Lions still 1-0 to the good, but they thought they had
given up their advantage just a few minutes after the restart when Slimani
tucked home from close range, but the Algerian striker was correctly flagged
offside.
On 55 minutes Mahrez squared
up a defender and fired a shot on target with his right foot which was turned
over the top by Onana, and the subsequent corner kick saw defender Abdelkader
Bedrane miss the target with a free header.
Cameroon, already on the back
foot, were dealt a further blow when Choupo-Moting succumbed to injury and was
replaced by Nouhou Tolo just after the hour mark.
Yet the Indomitable Lions then
missed two great chances to increase their advantage midway through the second
half, with M’Bolhi making a great save to deny Leandre Tawamba’s goal-bound
header before Martin Hongla latched onto the rebound but saw his effort blocked
by Aissa Mandi.
Algeria dialled up the
pressure in the dying minutes of regulation time, but they struggled to find a
way past Cameroon’s deep-lying defence – with the Central Africans seemingly
happy to take the game to an extra 30 minutes.
The first major incident of
extra time saw Slimani find the back of the net in the 98th minute after
getting onto the end of substitute Ahmed Touba’s cross, but the goal was
disallowed after a VAR review, with referee Gassama indicating a hand-ball
after watching a replay – a harsh decision given that the ball appeared to come
off the striker’s shoulder.
Chances continued to come for
the North Africans through the first half of extra time and into the second,
with Ismail Bennacer notably forcing a fine save from Onana with a powerful
drive in the 112th minute.
However, the Desert Foxes were
finally rewarded for their persistence in the 119th minute, as Touba headed
home from Rachid Ghezzal’s corner kick to make it 1-1 on the night and put
Algeria 2-1 up on aggregate.
That seemed to be the end of
the road for Cameroon, but deep in injury time they claimed a stunning winner –
with Michael Ngadeu’s flick-on turned home by Karl Toko-Ekambi – to see the tie
finish 2-2 on aggregate, but with the Indomitable Lions claiming an eighth
World Cup qualification on the away goals rule.
Algeria (0)
(0) 1 (Touba 119’)
Cameroon (1)
(1) 2 (Choupo-Moting 22’, Toko-Ekambi 120+3)
After extra time, 2-2 on
aggregate, Cameroon win the tie on away goals
Algeria: M’Bolhi,
Bedrane, Mandi, Benlamri, Benayada, Zerrouki (Bendebka 76’), Bennacer, Atal
(Touba 98’), Mahrez, Belaili (Ghezzal 109’), Slimani (Belfodil
Cameroon: A.
Onana, Fai, Castelletto, Ngadeu, Oyongo (Malong 87’), Hongla, Oum Gouet (Aboubakar
102’), Ondoua (J. Onana 111’), Tawamba (Ganago 111’), Toko Ekambi,
Choupo-Moting (Tolo 63’)
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