Morocco 1-0 Cote d'Ivoire: 5 Talking Points | African Cup of Nations 2019

With a 1-0 win in this game, Morocco have joined other heavyweights - Algeria, Egypt, and Nigeria - in ensuring their progress to the knockout stages of the African Cup Of Nations 2019.

Moroccans across the world will be hoping that the team can continue in the competition by replicating the strong performance they gave in this match. With a classy goal by En-Nesyri, thanks to the eagled-eyed Amrabat, Morocco settled into their game. Ivory Coast were certainly lucky not to concede any more.

The Moroccans played beautifully on the counter-attack, making seamless and effective passes that gave the Ivorian defence a lot of work. While it sounds like the Ivorians played rather poorly, nothing has ever been farther from the truth.

The Ivorians were solid and put their best into the game, but they were simply no match for the Northern Africans.

The Morocans were able to hold down Ivorian stars Nicolas Pepe and Wilifred Bony. While the Ivorians had no space to cause much trouble near the Morocans' goal, there were some notable moments.

Jonathan Kodjia nearly scored with a very close header in early on in the game but it was cleared quickly. An odd mistake by Yassine Bounou - Morocco's goalie - nearly aided the Elephants in an equalizer. The 28-year-old goalkeeper rushed off his line but couldn't clear the ball, allowing an oncoming Serey Die to shoot the ball into the side netting.

Ivory Coast are now level with South Africa and need a result against Gambia to qualify for the knockout stages.

We take a look at five talking points as Morocco continue a successful streak in their group, while Cote d'Ivoire hope to gain three points against Gambia.

#1 A brilliant move rounded off by a world-class strike

A brilliant move by the Moroccans result in a beautiful goal

Football is a beautiful game, and goals like En-Nesyri's are testaments to that fact.

All the praise should go to former Watford winger Nordin Amrabat who beat three defenders in a jinx of a run. He then cut inside with a quick foot trick to find space, then layed off a beautiful no-look through-pass that beat the offside trap and set up an unmarked En-Nesyri to place the ball past the keeper.

It was a splendid, brilliantly crafted goal by Amrabat who didn't lose possession of the ball in those split seconds. While the Ivorians could barely have held back such brilliance, they would be pained that none of them noticed En-Nesyri unmarked and on-side, right in the middle.

While Amrabat may have drawn some of the Ivorians from their positions, Ibrahim Kamara will slam his team for lack of concentration that allowed En-Nesyri to be so available for the pass.

#2 The Moroccans link up splendidly

Other teams entering the knockout stages will have to be cautious about Morocco's ability to link up play with seemingly no effort.

While the solitary goal of the game has been discussed in this article, it's just the tip of the iceberg. The Moroccans have mastered their positions, especially in counterattacks.

Another chance was created when Achraf Hakimi started a counter-attack that linked up to Amrabat who dummied unexpectedly, setting up En-Nesyri for yet another shot. However, Sylvain Gbohouo, the Ivorian goalkeeper, met his effort with a save.

In yet another beautiful link up piece of play, the Moroccans took the ball into the final third of the Elephants' end with surreal efficiency.

Trying to cap the move with a goal, Hakimi layed it on for Boussoufa who sent the ball across the box to a very unmarked Noussair Mazraoui who unluckily hit the bar with his side-footed effort.

#3 The Moroccans totally dominated the game

The Ivorians could not keep the Moroccans down.

Nearly every statistic in the game showed that Ivory Coast were no match for this Moroccan side.

In shots at goal and chances created, Morocco had more. In possession and counter-attacking, Morocco took the win. In aerial duels, the Moroccans won 61% of the time. In successful passes, dribbles, and tackles, Morocco took the outplayed their opponents.

Cote d'Ivoire played a good game, and they had some quality time with the ball. However, their less decisive gameplay and perhaps Kamara's decision to leave Wilifred Zaha out of the game played a major part in their inability to find the net throughout the game.

#4 Both teams showed reasonably strong defensive capabilities

Yes, of course there were mistakes on both sides. However, apart from those odd cases, both teams showcased their strength in defence throughout the game.

In the Ivorian team, every single player, barring the attackers and goalkeeper, made at least two tackles in the game. Wonlo Coulibaly notably made four tackles, alongside three clearances and three interceptions.

Midfielder Sergie Die also picked up two tackles and three interceptions. However, the Ivorians had poor discipline with every single player causing a minimum of one foul excluding substitutes Bakayoko and Cornet and goalkeeper Gbohouo.

The Moroccans did better defensively with midfielders Boussoufa, El Ahmadi, and Belhanda with a total of ten tackles.

The backline also aided the team with nine interceptions, but notably, goalscorer En-Nesyri made major contributions defensively with the highest number of clearances on the pitch (4).

#5 Morocco were more creative in the final third

While Morocco's dominance all-round has been mentioned, it is notable to discuss a particular aspect of the game where Cote d'Ivoire could have done better.

When it came to the final third, the Ivorians were less adept at fashioning chances for themselves.

The Ivorians were dispossessed 18 times during the game, with Nicolas Pepe losing the ball five times. Only midfielder Franck Kessie managed to make more than one dribble throughout the game.

Most notably, the Ivorians only managed six key passes, well below the Moroccans who made eleven.

Edited by Alan John