AFCON 2019
Tunisia 1-1 Angola
New Suez Stadium, Suez
Monday, 24-06-2019
SUEZ – Djalma Campos scored with 17 minutez of the game to play and in process, denied Tunisia a win in their group E opener at the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations on Monday evening as the Desert Foxes drew 1-1 with Angola at the New Suez Stadium.
Goal keeper Farouk Mustapha pushed Matues shot into the path of Djalma for the foward to draw Angola level in the game and hand his side a positive start to the tournament.
Monday’s clash in Suez saw few clear chances created by either side, with Tunisia captain Youssef Msakni seemingly having stepped up to seal all three points for his team.
Naim Sliti was brought down in the penalty area in the first half and Msakni made no mistake with the resulting spot-kick.
Angola had the better of the opening 45 minutes but Tunisia took the lead in the 34th minute.
A sweeping counter-attack led to Sliti cutting inside Paizo and shaping to shoot, with the defender’s desperate lunge brought him (Sliti) down, leaving Msakni to convert from 12 yards.
Gelson Dala fired off target as Angola continued to press, but Srdjan Vasiljevic’s team appeared unable to find a way to break Tunisia down.
Msakni had a penalty appeal rejected in the 71st minute when referee Bamlak Tessema Weyesa adjudged the striker to have gone down too easily in the area.
But Tunisia have kept just one clean sheet in their last 17 Africa Cup of Nations matches and Angola levelled with its next attack.
Tunisia had late chances to retake the lead but, after finding space in the box with some neat footwork, Wahbi Khazri curled his low shot wide, then Msakni drilled straight at Tony Cabaca in added time.
The draw sees either side take home a point and await the othe group E game between Mali and Mauritania, to know where they sit on the standings.
The Mali vs Mauritania game will be played later on Monday at 11pm.
The result means that Tunisia have lost only one of their last 10 opening AFCON games (W4 D5) with that defeat coming at the hands of Senegal in 2007 (0-2)
The Desert Foxes have now gone six years with out an AFCON clean-sheet since keeping one in a 1-0 victory over Algeria back in January 2013.
Youssef Msakni has scores two goals in his last three games at AFCON, as many as he managed in his previous 10 matches.
Tunisia has scored three of its last six goals at AFCON via the penalty kick.
For Angola, they have now lost none of their Five opening games at AFCON (W1 D4).
In their next games, Tunisia take on Mali on Friday while Angola squares off with Mauritania the following day.
The other games on Monday
-Ivory Coast 1-0 South Africa
-Mali vs Mauritania
Tuesday’s fixtures
-Cameroon vs Guinea-Bissau @8pm
-Ghana vs Benin @11pm