Guinea clinical in victory over Ethiopia

Guinea made it two wins out of two in their latest 2023 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier, bagging maximum points in a 3-2 victory against Ethiopia at the Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium on Monday night.

While the game commenced at a slow pace, Ethiopia settled on the ball and looked to progress high up on the pitch. The home team’s high defensive line was exploited in the fourth minute as Francois Kamano found Naby Keita with an accurate pass towards goal as the midfielder slotted the ball away with ease.

Since the goal, both sides created little goalscoring opportunities while Ethiopia attempted to get into the game with cautious build-up play from defensive positions.

The hosts had up to 64 per cent ball possession in the first half but struggled to infiltrate the Guinean backline. However, their moment arrived in the 34th minute and manufactured a well-worked passing move toward the Guinean box.

With clever one-touch football being played en-route to goal, Kenean Markneh capped off a slick passing sequence to draw his side level.

Guinea then took the lead three minutes before the break as this time, Keita pulled strings in the middle of the park and picked out Ilaix Moriba on the edge of the Ethiopia area who rifled the ball into the back of the net.

In contrast to that of the first half, Guinea started the second 45 on the front foot but were often let down by the final ball toward goal. The travelling side continued to push and stretched the Ethiopia backline in wide areas of the pitch.

Guinea gained command of the tie in the 70th minute when Morgan Guilavogui added his name to the scoresheet. In acres of space to run into, Guilavogui latched onto a well-weighted ball by Ilaix Moriba as the attacker produced a low driving shot that beat the opposition goalkeeper.

With five minutes added on after regulation time, Ethiopia made a couple of last ditch attempts to get back into the game and found the back of the net in minute 95, as Kitika Jima Ojulu scored a consolation goal for his country.

That said, it was not to be for the host nation as Guinea bagged maximum points on the road.

Ethiopia: (1) 2 (Markneh 34’ Jima 95’)

Guinea: (2) 3 (Keita 4, Moriba 42’ Guilavogui 70’)

Ethiopia: Aregawi, Yusef, Belay, Tamene, Hamid, Yohannes (Oukri 60’), Solomon, Bekele, Markneh, Gugsa (Tarekegn 60’), Yalew (Endeshaw 45’)

Guinea: Kone, Conte (Sylla 64’), Sow, Diakhaby, Sylla, Keita (Sylla 45’), Diawara, Moriba (Cisse 75’), Guilavogui (Diaby 74’), Bayo, Kamano (Konate 75’)