By Nana Kwame Bediako
The Atlas Lions of Morocco held their superiority against the Taifa Stars of Tanzania in their opening group F game at the Stade de San Pédro on Wednesday, January 17, 2023, as they defeated Tanzania by 3:0.
Morocco manhandled Tanzania in the early stages of the game as they prevented the Taifa Stars from playing and holding onto the ball for long. The Atlas Lions dominated all departments of the game, leaving Tanzania to chase the game.
Tanzania gave everything by fighting back and getting into the game, but the Atlas Lions responded with an upset as they scored in the 29th minute when a Hakim Ziyech free kick got palmed to the path of Romain Saiss, who got the ball in the back of the net to make it 1:0 in the first half.
Morocco continued from where they left off in the first half as they took charge of affairs in the second half, forcing the Tanzanians to drop back in order to prevent any further damage from the Atlas Lions of Morocco. The Taifa Stars of Tanzania managed to get some chances in the second half compared to their performance in the first half.
Although the Tanzanians fought hard to keep Morocco from dominating the game, they eventually saw red when Novatus Miroshi got sent off in the 70th minute.
Morroco immediately took advantage of Tanzania going down by a man to add to their tally as Onuahi and En-Nesyri scored in the 77th and 80th minutes, respectively, to give the Atlas Lions a 3:0 victory.
