Algeria rested captain Riyad Mahrez but still put on a dominant display to beat Equatorial Guinea 3-1 in Rabat, becoming the second team after Nigeria to win all three group games at the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations.
Leaving out five-time Premier League winner Mahrez was one of nine changes made by Algeria coach Vladimir Petkovic from the 1-0 victory over Burkina Faso, but his livewire replacement on the right flank, Anis Hadj Moussa, ran the Equatoguineans ragged.
His trickery and direct approach drew rapturous approval from the thousands of Algeria fans in green and white who packed all four sides of this compact, modern stadium.
Moussa’s corner supplied centre-back Zineddine Belaid to nod in the opener before another cross from the Feyenoord man found the unmarked Ibrahim Maza ghosting into space to head his side’s third.
In between, Moussa’s team-mate on the opposite flank, Fares Chaibi, also exploited time and space behind a porous backline to fire high into the net after cutting inside.
Having lost their opening two games in Group E, the attitude and endeavour on display from Equatorial Guinea was not up to the required standard, particularly in the first half.
Captain and frontman Emilio Nsue was regularly forced to drop deep to gesticulate for his players to up their intensity, and the 36-year-old put all of his evident frustration into a powerful long-range strike which found the top corner in the 50th minute, providing the one moment of real quality from the National Thunder.
Petkovic, meanwhile, looks to have moulded a hardworking, slick unit, with squad players fighting to make an impression ahead of Les Fennecs’ last-16 tie against DR Congo back at this stadium on Tuesday, 6 January (16:00 GMT).
While Algeria had the luxury of resting players after winning the section with a match to spare, opposition coach Juan Micha was forced into some of his five changes after Carlos Akapo and Josete Miranda were handed four-match bans for abusing the referee during their defeat by Sudan.
Judging by his team’s start to this match, Micha had been unable to improve the mental state of his already-eliminated squad.
Equatorial Guinea won this fixture in a huge upset at the 2021 finals as part of the first of two successive group-stage exits for Algeria, but this time the two-time champions looked capable of cutting them open at will.
While Mahrez, 34, remains a talisman, Moussa’s player of the match display here will have given Petkovic food for thought – and perhaps alerted a few clubs in the market for a guileful wideman full of running.
His in-swinging set-piece delivery for the opener in the 19th minute allowed Belmaid to glance the ball from the near to the far post, sparking celebrations in the stands as fans lit red flares.
And the Central Africans did not learn their lesson, affording the 23-year-old far too much time and space to pick out Maza for the third with another delicious left-foot delivery, the recipient’s header taking a slight deflection off defender Esteban Orozco, who he beat to the ball.
Mounsef Bakrar was also denied a first goal for Algeria by an outstanding one-handed save at point-blank range by Jesus Owono.
With Equatorial Guinea’s body language bordering on the profane, a hiding looked on the cards – but somehow, under the influence of Nsue, the National Thunder slowly began to work their way into the game as Algeria took their foot off the gas.
An improved second-half performance was capped by Nsue’s contender for goal of the tournament five minutes after the restart.
The former Birmingham City striker was top scorer with five goals at Afcon 2023, so perhaps this was his way of bowing out on top while those around him failed to hit the heights.
Nsue came close to adding to his tally on two occasions in the second period, with one drawing a smart save from the Algeria goalkeeper and the other in drifting just wide during added time.
Wonder strike aside, Nsue could not find the perfection needed to rescue his team.
At the other end, Chaibi rattled the bar but also fluffed an easy ball across goal which should have picked out one of two team-mates waiting for a tap in.
As the light in the sky dimmed, it proved the cue for Algeria’s fans around the stadium to bring out their phones to produce a twinkling display for their stars on the pitch.
Even the pouring rain at full time could not dampen spirits, and fans returning to this stadium in six days’ time will do so full of hope that Algeria can produce another run to the final here in Morocco.
