African Cup of Nations 2019, Ivory Coast 1-1 Algeria (3-4 on penalties): 3 Talking Points

Modified Jul 12, 2019 05:11 GMT

Algeria edged past Ivory Coast 4-3 on penalties after both sides could not be separated after 120 minutes

#3 Algerian defence finally breached

Rais M'bolhi was finally beaten in the Algerian goal after 427 minutes of action

Heading into this fixture, the Algerians had gone an impressive four matches without conceding right from the group stages through the second round.

Impressively, the North Africans had scored 10 unreplied goals in that run, but despite holding out for so long, Rais M'bolhi was finally beaten in the Algerian goal after 427 minutes of action.

This meant that Algeria failed to match the tournament record of going six matches without conceding which was achieved on two occasions by Ivory Coast in 2012 and Cameroon in 2002 and both sides went all the way to the final on each occasion.

Algeria's defensive solidity has played a major role in getting them this far, but with forwards like Willfred Zaha, Jonathan Kodjia and Max Gradel, Ivory Coast's firepower ultimately proved too much for them and this saw their back line breached for the first time in this competition.

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Edited by Alan John