Sports|Football

Mahrez’s late winner takes Algeria to African Cup final

Algeria edge past Nigeria after stoppage-time goal to seal a place in the final where they will take on Senegal.

Soccer Football - Africa Cup of Nations 2019 - Semi Final - Algeria v Nigeria - Cairo International Stadium, Cairo, Egypt - July 14, 2019 Algeria''s Riyad Mahrez celebrates scoring their second goal wi
Algeria has qualified for the African Cup of Nations final for the second time [Amr Abdallah Dalsh/Reuters]
Published On 14 Jul 2019

Algeria forward Riyad Mahrez curled in a free kick in stoppage time to give his country a 2-1 win over Nigeria in a tense Africa Cup of Nations semi-final football match played in a volatile atmosphere.

The Algerians went ahead on Sunday when William Troost-Ekong turned a Mahrez cross into his own net five minutes before halftime.

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Nigeria equalised midway through the second half with a penalty awarded for handball and converted by Odion Ighalo following a lengthy video assistant referee, or VAR, review.

There were ugly scenes as bottles were thrown after the equaliser.

Algeria will face Senegal in Friday’s final after the latter sealed a 1-0 win over Tunisia in Sunday’s first semi-final.

Senegal won with an own-goal in the 100th minute when goalkeeper Mouez Hassen pushed a free kick onto the head of defender Dylan Bronn and the ball bounced back into the Tunisian goal.

In a game of high drama, both teams missed penalties within a few minutes of each other in regulation time at the 30 June Stadium in Cairo.

Soccer Football - Africa Cup of Nations 2019 - Semi Final - Algeria v Nigeria - Cairo International Stadium, Cairo, Egypt - July 14, 2019 Algeria's Riyad Mahrez celebrates scoring their second goal wi
Algeria’s last win over Nigeria came in the 1990 AFCON final  [Amr Abdallah Dalsh/Reuters]
Source: News Agencies