AFCON qualifiers: Ethiopia fall to Guinea, Sudan clinch crucial victory

• Ethiopia’s hopes of qualification are now limited
• Sudan restored some hope of progressing
• The final twio rounds of matches will be played in June

Ethiopia’s hopes of qualification to the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations have thinned down after suffering a 3-2 defeat at the hands of Guinea.

Ethiopia remain rooted bottom of the log with just three points and their hopes of qualification have grown slimmer.  Guinea’s win took them to nine points in Group D, same as leaders Egypt.

“We missed some quality players because of injuries. From the two games, we played a bit better today and it was unfortunate we lost. We will try to see what we can achieve in the last two games,” said Ethiopia’s coach Wubetu Abate.

Guinean head coach Kaba Diawarra was delighted with the victory and believes his side will qualify.

“The game was good and we tried to score as many goals as possible. We were stronger and quicker. We analyzed from the video of the first game and we realized we can create more chances from the wings and I am glad that we tried to do that and scored three goals,” the tactician said.

Liverpool FC midfielder Naby Keita starred in the win with a goal and an assist.

Keita break the deadlock 

As early as the fifth minute, the Guineans had struck first blood, skipper Naby Keita breaking the deadlock with a delightful finish. The Liverpool FC midfielder raced on to a Francois Kamano brilliant pass before sweeping it low past the keeper.

But, Ethiopia showed fight, looking to keep their qualification dreams alive. Their persistence paid off in the 34th minute when Canaan Markneh smashed in the equalizer from inside the box after some delightful build up play which ended in Chernet Gugsa cutting a cross into the box.

But, the Syli Nationale clinched back the lead three minutes to the break when Keita turned from scorer to provider, sending Ilaix Moriba through on goal with the latter striking low on the left foot.

In the second half, Guinea started off dominant and they pushed to get a third to cushion their lead. They did so in the 70th minute when Moriba also added an assist to his goal, clipping the ball over the defense to pick out the run of Morgan Guilavogui.

The Paris FC forward made no mistake, striking a low shot past the keeper.

Ethiopia pull one back at the death 

Ethiopia pulled one back at the death, Kitika Jemma tapping home unmarked from point blank range off a low cross from Suleman Hamid.

Elsewhere in Omdurman, Sudan beat Gabon 1-0 to keep their hopes of qualification on check.

Muhamed Alhaj Kome’s brilliant bicycle kick goal in the second half handed the Falcons of Jeddiane maximum points at home as they ensured they remained in contention for a place in the 2023 showpiece with two rounds of matches left.

The win saw Sudan scale to second in group I with six points, two ahead of Mauritania who play DR Congo on Tuesday and one behind the Gabonese.

Kome’s brilliant goal, connecting to an Athar El Tahir cross from the right in the 67th minute of the match left the Gabonese keeper rooted to his spot.