Ivory Coast – Algeria: Rolled, the Fennecs leave the CAN, the summary of the match

It was the game of fear, the one that should not be lost and above all won at all costs. Algeria will not have succeeded, falling on stronger, much stronger than it. Everything could have been different if Bennacer had shaken the net rather than the post on a corner played quickly behind but fate was not with the Fennecs, as when in the second half, Mahrez took Badra Ali on the wrong foot but saw his penalty come to die against the Ivorian right post. In the wake of the corner, therefore, Aurier triggered an action by sending a pass over to Pépé. The latter put back on Séri who put him back in the depth on the right in the surface. In the background, the Arsenal striker served Kessié, who launched M’Bolhi no chance. From a post to a goal, from one destiny to another.

The Algerian nightmare then continued. Lacking realism like a missed control in Belaili’s race, when he had melted behind Deli’s back, Belmadi’s men were punished with a free kick. Off center on the right, 30 meters away, Aurier dropped his ball at the far post on the head of Sangaré. Having slipped away from his defender, the midfielder adjusted his header from close range to make the break shortly before the break. The Algerian coach tried everything by adding Slimani to bring weight to his attack but the start of the second half proved him wrong. The Ivorians increased their pressure and after two first alerts including a powerful strike from Aurier which grazed the Algerian post, Pépé, in all the good offensive shots, signed the Elephants’ third goal, with a beautiful inside left foot. Already seriously affected, Algeria was now knocked out, groggy by a scenario confusing itself into a nightmare. Only a miracle could have saved the defending champion then but it did not come. Mahrez’s penalty was pushed back by the post, then Barda Ali deflected a close-range header from Slimani, then slammed over his crossbar a Brahimi free-kick. In the meantime, Bendebka had reduced the gap, and prevented Algeria from finishing fanny in this CAN. In additional time, Haller added a fourth goal, as a final sentence, finally canceled for offside. Whatever, without glory or momentum, Algeria, said goodbye to its title, as in 1992. For its part, Côte d’Ivoire, collectively convincing, offered first place and a deserved qualification in the round of 16 , taking his revenge on his executioner who had dismissed him in the quarter-finals of the previous edition. From one destiny to another.

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