Algeria strengthened their hopes of qualifying for the Africa Cup of Nations finals with a hard-fought 1-0 win over visiting Togo on Saturday, in the third round of qualifiers.
اضافة اعلان
Rami Benseghir scored the winning goal for Algeria in the second half, in the 76th minute.
Algeria moved up to seven points from two wins and a draw, keeping their lead in Group 9 ahead of Zambia, who are second with four points after drawing 1-1 with Burundi. Togo are third with three points, and Burundi fourth with two.
The "Desert Warriors" struggled to break down a well-organised Togolese defence in the first half, as the visitors closed spaces and limited the threat of the home side, despite Algeria's dominance of possession at times.
After the interval, Algeria stepped up their attacks, and coach Ibrahim Hamdani made several attacking substitutions, bringing on Saadi Radouani, Mohamed El Amine Amoura and Farès Chaïbi in search of the breakthrough.
The reward came in the 76th minute, when Benseghir found the net, benefiting from a decisive pass by Anis Hadj Moussa.
Angola secured a late and dramatic 2-0 win over visitors South Sudan, scoring two goals in stoppage time, in the Group 2 fixture.
Substitutes Chico Banza (90+2) and Miro (90+8) scored the goals.
Angola appeared to be heading for a frustrating goalless draw, even though their opponents played most of the second half with ten men, after defender Angelo Jerigá was shown a straight red card in the 48th minute for unsporting behaviour.
The home side stepped up their attacks to exploit their numerical advantage, and coach Alió Sissé made several substitutions to break down South Sudan's defensive block. The most notable were the introduction of Banza in the 53rd minute and Miro in the 65th.
Angola moved up to seven points from three matches, level with Egypt at the top of Group 2, with Egypt ahead on goal difference.
Malawi are third on three points, while South Sudan sit at the bottom with no points after three consecutive defeats.
Uganda moved to the top of Group 8 with a 1-1 draw against Botswana.
Uganda lead on five points, ahead of Libya in second on four and Botswana in third on three, while Tunisia are fourth and last with two points.
