Morocco romp to Chan glory

Morocco players celebrate after winning the 2018 CHAN Final football match between Morocco and Nigeria at Stade Mohamed V in Casablanca, Morocco on 04 February 2018 © Ryan Wilkisky/BackpagePix

Morocco romped to an emphatic 4-0 victory over Nigeria in the final of the 2018 African Nations Championship at Stade Mohamed V in Casablanca on Sunday night.

The Atlas Lions become the fourth different winner of the Chan, joining DR Congo, Tunisia and Libya on the honours board after they overpowered the Super Eagles, who played most of the second half with just 10 men.

Morocco gave an early warning of their attacking potency when striker Ayoub El Kaabi headed home from Ismail Haddad’s corner kick in the seventh minute, but the goal was correctly ruled out because the ball had passed out of play in its flight.

El Kaabi took centre stage again in the 15th minute when he met Haddad’s left-flank cross with an acrobatic overhead kick and rattled Nigeria’s crossbar with the effort, underlining the Atlas Lions’ early dominance.

Nigeria came into the game a little more as the first half wore on, but the hosts remained dangerous in attack and finally broke the deadlock just before the interval.

A slick move put Abdeljalil Jbira free down the left flank, his pullback from the by-line picked out Zakaria Hadraf and the winger fired a low shot into the back of the net, beating goalkeeper Dele Ajiboye low to his right.