Morocco beat South Africa 2-1 in their opening Group K match of the 2023 African Cup Of Nations qualifiers at Stade Prince Moulay Abdallah, Rabat on Thursday night.
The Moroccan goals were scored by Youssef En-Nesyri and Ayoub El Kaabi, while Lyle Foster scored for Bafana Bafana.
The result is the first match of Group K which now is topped by Morocco on three points followed by Liberia, Zimbabwe and South Africa with zero points.
The opening 45-minutes was totally dominated possession-wise by the home side Morocco plus they had almost all the scoring chance bar the one which gave Bafana the early lead.
Bafana took the lead in the eighth minute, when Lyle Foster scored with a shot which flew low past goalkeeper Yassine Bounou in to the right corner to make it 1-0.
This through-ball from Sphephelo Sithole is 👌
— SuperSport 🏆 (@SuperSportTV) June 9, 2022
A stunning pass from a young player and an equally brilliant finish from Foster 👏#AFCON2023Q
Morocco had scoring chances in the first-half via the likes of, Tarik Tissoudali, Youssef En-Nesyri, Ilias Chair, Selim Amallah and Achraf Hakimi but all their goal attempts were either wide or saved by Bafana keeper Ronwen Williams.
The home side looked like they would grab the equaliser at any stage as the sides went in at the half-time break with Bafana clinging on to their 1-0 lead.
Not long after the re-start, in the 51st minute, Morocco equalised with a headed goal by Youssef En-Nesyri after receiving the ball from Romain Saïss to make the score 1-1.
In the 63 minute, Bafana had a rare scoring chance when Lyle Lakay tried a shot but his attempt was blocked by the Moroccan defence.
As the second half progressed, Morocco had more slight scoring chances through, Azzedine Ounahi, Romain Saïss, and Ayoub El Kaabi but did not find the back of the net.
For Bafana, both Yusuf Maart and Percy Tau had shots at goal that flew wide.
Then in the 87th minute Morocco took the lead, when a cross from Amine Harit found Ayoub El Kaabi in the box and he scored with a low shot to the left to hand his side the 2-1 lead.
Late in the game, Phathutshedzo Nange of South Africa had his long-range shot blocked after receiving the ball from Evidence Makgopa.
The match ended in a deserved 2-1 victory for Morocco thanks to creating more chances and dominating possession.
