Yaccine Chikhaoui netted a late winner as Tunisia beat a wasteful Zambia side 2-1 in their second Africa Cup of Nations outing this evening.
Both sides went into the break goalless in a first half that Zambia dominated, with Emmanuel Mayuka, in particular, missing a host of good chances.
However, the Southampton man atoned for those earlier misses by smashing home the opener shortly before the hour mark, while Ahmed Akaichi levelled up on 70 minutes.
It looked on course for a 1-1 draw, but Chikhaoui headed home the winner on 89 minutes as the Tunisians move top of Group B with four points.
Below, relive all of the action with Sports Mole's play-by-play of the encounter.
Good afternoon boys and girls and welcome to our live text commentary of Tunisia's clash with Zambia in the Africa Cup of Nations. I'm Shane and I'll be taking you through what could be a HUGE (so big that I've used capital letters) clash in Ebebiyin today folks.
Both sides drew 1-1 in their Group B openers against Congo DR and Cape Verde recently, which means that victory today will see one of these two move top of the table with one group game remaining!
The pressure is very much on Tunisia, who came into the tournament as one of the favourites to lift the trophy for a second time, but the 2004 winners did little to enhance their title credentials after labouring to a point against Cape Verde on Sunday. Mohamed Ali Moncer fired the Tunisians ahead on 70 minutes, but Heldon earned a point with a penalty eight minutes later.
And what of Zambia? Honour Janza's side rode their luck in their Group B curtain-raiser with Congo DR, with Given Singuluma firing Zambia ahead after two minutes but Yannick Bolasie struck a second-half equaliser in a game where Congo missed a host of chances.
Right, that's enough context so let's get cracking on a bit of team news, shall we? Why not.
ZAMBIA XI: Mweene; Nkausu, Mtonga, Sunzu, Mbola; Kangwa, Munthali, Singuluma, Musonda; Mayuka, Kalaba
TUNISIA XI: Mathlouthi; Bedoui, Ben Youssef, Abdennour, Maaloul; Ragued, Saihi, Msakni, Chikhaoui; Khazri, Akaichi
Who can Tunisia look to for a bit of inspiration then? That's probably Wahbi Khazri, who finished as his nation's top goalscorer in qualifying and the Bordeaux striker has six international goals in 13 appearances. He's certainly one to watch this afternoon.
Chipolopolo, meanwhile, will undoubtedly look to Emmanuel Mayuka for guidance. The Southampton striker is the highest scoring Zambian player in the squad with 11 goals and he just might be one to see them to victory this afternoon. Honourable mention to Sunzu, whose knowledge of war strategies could come in handy this afternoon.
The omens certainly do not favour Zambia, who have not won a matchday two fixture for 19 years! They've lost five and drawn three since. Not great, is it? But Tunisia, despite their hype before the competition began, did not look at the races against Cape Verde so that 19-year hoodoo won't hinder them today.
PREDICTION: Right, we're nearing kickoff so let's channel the spirit of Nostradamus and offer a prediction, shall we? Okay, and I'm going for 2-1 Tunisia. Zambia will score first, but Tunisia will come back and boost their hopes of making the quarter-final. Two former champions remember, so it should be a good game.
KICKOFF! Aaaaaaaaaaaand we're off in Ebebiyin, my friends. Zambia, playing in green, get us underway.
Fairly tentative start here but Tunisia bossing the possession in the early stages. We're yet to see any goalscoring chances, but Tunisia certainly the better side thus far.
PENALTY APPEAL! Wow. This is a stonewall penalty for Tunisia but it's not given. Khazri looks to knock it past Sunzu, but it hits the defender's hand and the referee waves play on. Perhaps not intentional, but certainly a clear hand ball that denied Khazri a potential shot at goal.
Zambia enjoy a bit of possession in Tunisia's half for the first time, with Emmanuel Mayuka looking to make a nuisance of himself in the opposition box but the Tunisians handle him well.
Lubambo Musonda showcases his ability on that right-hand with a few Ronaldo-esque step-overs to beat Ali Maaloul, but his cross is a shocker and goes straight out for a goal kick. Still, he looks like he has the skills to threaten Tunisia today, but whether he has the end product is another question.
Really good play from Zambia as Mtonga catches Ragued in possession and they launch a swift counter attack but, in a three-on-two situation, Musonda's decision making lets him down again as his cross is punched clear by Mathlouthi. It wasn't a chance, but Zambia really should have made more of that attack.
Zambia well on top in the last few minutes but, much like Tunisia's early-match dominance, they're not making a whole lot of it. 15 minutes in and we're yet to see a shot at goal.
SHOT!!! Just as I say that, Zambia skipper Rainford Kalaba takes aim from about 25 yards and his ferocious left-footed strike drifts about an inch wide of the post. Fine effort.
Tunisia play a brilliant over-the-top ball for Ahmed Akaichi, who must be dreaming of an opening goal, but goalkeeper Kennedy Mweene was quick off his line to thwart the danger. It's just opening up a little bit now, which is great because we might have something to shout about soon.
Well we thought it was starting to open up, but it was a false dawn and we're back to the same tedious game as we saw prior to those few bright moments. It needs something special.
The final ball from both teams is pretty poor so far. We've seen from fantastic counter attacks and individual play to get into promising positions, but there's been some dreadful end product. The team who rectifies their final pass deficiencies the quickest will win this.
SHOT!!! Kalaba has established himself as Zambia's primary goal threat so far, and the captain takes aim from outside the box once again, but his left-footer isn't quite as close as his earlier shot was. They need to get Musonda on the ball a little more. He's looked very menacing on that right-hand flank.
Zambia keeper Mweene is on the turf receiving treatment following a collision with Khazri. It was an honest challenge from the Tunisian forward in just an unfortunate coming together. Looks like it's a shoulder problem. Let's see if he can continue.
Yep, Mweene is fit enough to take the resulting free kick and we're back underway following that stoppage. 15 minutes left in the half not including added time and, well, neither team deserves the lead as of yet.
SAVE!!!! Good save by Tunisia stopper Mathlouthi as he punches Kalaba's right-footed shot over the bar. He might've done better, considering he had the entire goal to aim at, but a very decent save nonetheless. There's been four shots in the game and Kalaba has had three of them. He has no problem generating power, but the direction on his shots leaves a little to be desired.
CHANCE!!! It's only our mate Kalaba again, as he pounces on a botched clearance from Maaloul, but his first-time left-footed shot drifts wide of Mathlouthi's near post. He needed a bit of composure then to examine his options, and he did have a few rather than shooting. It's that poor end product we've seen throughout the match.
SAVE!!! Zambia really turning the screw now as Musonda does brilliantly to evade a few challenges before playing a delightful outside-of-the-boot ball into the box, but Sunzu's shot is tipped over by Mathlouthi. He's kept them in this, the Tunisia keeper.
CHANCE!!! Oh my lord you need to be scoring this. Emmanuel Mayuka has a free header but he directs it straight at Mathlouthi. Such a poor finish and it most definitely should be 1-0. Mayuka knows it too, as he punches the ground repeatedly. Let's hope his hand is alright - because he's not going to score with his head!
Do these African teams work on their shooting in training? I've watched several AFCON games so far and the recurring theme in every single one of them has been woeful finishing. It's not an exaggeration to say that it could be 4-1 to Zambia in this first half.
CHANCE!!!! I find myself doing my John McEnroe "you cannot be serious" impression now as Zambia miss another golden chance - and it's only Mayuka again. The ball loops up beautifully for him and he looks certain to volley it past Mathlouthi from in the box, but he ends up executing an air-kick as Tunisia thwart the danger. Mental.
THREE MINUTES ADDED ON:
HALF TIME: TUNISIA 0-0 ZAMBIA
Right, so we're goalless at the break. How? I don't really know. It should be at least 3-0 to Zambia who, in addition to plenty of half-chances, missed a host of clear goalscoring opportunities. They're by far the better team and if they don't win this, well, I don't know, but failure to win leaves their quarter-final prospects out of their hands.
Tunisia started the better, but they never really forced Kenneddy Mweene into many saves throughout that first half. They were one of the favourites coming into the competition, but they've a looooooooooong way to go to justify that pre-tournament hype. Like Zambia, they can't be eliminated today, but defeat would make their path to the quarter-finals far more treacherous.
RESTART! Alright so we're back in action. Tunisia get us underway once more and the North Africans will need a big response after being comprehensively outplayed in that first half.
Very little to report in the first few minutes of this half, where I found myself yawning, which isn't a good sign, but the first half got better as it progressed so who knows the future holds over the next 40 minutes or so.
Just one or two signs that Tunisia are coming into it a little bit more, as they fizz in a corner and Youssef is inches away from thumping home a header, but he failed to connect with it. Promising, though.
Zambia are applying pressure now as they did so often in the first half, with Evans Kangwa firing wide there a moment ago. I apologise for saying this, but Zambia are either operating on a shoot-on-sight policy, or they're just greedy because so many of their players are taking shots when better options i.e passing are available.
Referee is doing this game no favours at all. He's blowing up for more or less every aerial duel for some bizarre reason, as if contesting a header was against the laws of the game.
GOAL!!!! ZAMBIA 1-0 TUNISIA (Emmanuel Mayuka)
What a finish this is as Mayuka, who missed a host of chances in the first half, atones for his earlier misses by smashing a half-volley into the roof of the net following great work from Kalaba. Super goal. I didn't think he had a finish of that quality in him, so fair play.
CHANCE!!!! Selfish. Just selfish play from Evans Kangwa, who does brilliantly to evade a rash challenge before running through on goal but, instead of squaring to Mayuka, goes for goal and drags it closer to the corner flag. Unbelievable.
You worry for Tunisia. They look totally toothless in this final third and you wonder if they've got the quality to get themselves back on level terms.
CLOSE!!! Musonda is such a livewire going forward, and he showcases his talents once more by racing away from Maaloul, before drilling a left-footed shot into the side netting.
CLOSE!!!! Oh my word how is it only 1-0? It's getting farcical now. Kalaba latches on to Kangwa's defensive splitting ball, and the angle doesn't favour a shot, but he goes for one anyway because that's what Zambia do, and fortunately it's a shocking effort and fizzes across the face of goal, but the unmarked Mayuka can't reach it to poke home a second. Seriously, why didn't he just pass it across goal? It would've been 2-0. So greedy.
GOAL!!!! ZAMBIA 1-1 TUNISIA (Ahmed Akaichi)
Are you happy Kalaba? What about you Kangwa? Yep, Zambia are pegged back as Akaichi reaches a flick-on from a corner to tap home the equaliser. They haven't deserved one, but Zambia have deserved their lead taken away because they've been so selfish in front of goal, with Kalaba and Kangwa, in particular, playing for themselves. It's not an exaggeration to suggest that it would be at least 3-0 had those two passed instead of shooting on several occasions. Ridiculous.
Tunisia have their tails up now and this afternoon might just get worse for Zambia. Have I mentioned their selfish players yet?
Incidentally, Mayuka did the splits in trying to reach that earlier scuffed shot Kalaba and has gone off injured. So, not only has Kalaba indirectly contributed to this would-be capitulation by not simply passing across the face of goal, he's also responsible for injuring Mayuka, for he would not have had to stretch if Kalaba just squared it across goal.
SHOT! Zambia, to their credit, are getting back into this, but they should be ahead again as Kangwa fires a tame shot straight at Mathlouthi from a really good position.
PENALTY APPEAL! Tunisia are up in arms after Hamza went down in the box under a challenge from Munthali, but the referee, smiling, knows it was a dive - and it was. Good decision.
Five minutes left then and it looks like we're heading for another 1-1 draw. It's very much the scoreline of choice for teams in this Africa Cup of Nations thus far. I can't tell you how many there's been, but we're talking four or five at least.
But another 1-1 draw (both teams had this scoreline in their Group B curtain-raiser) doesn't help either side in their pursuit of a quarter-final berth, so let's see if one team can nick a much-needed three points in the final stages.
KALABA PASSES THE BALL!!! I don't believe it. The man who never passes in goalscoring positions, has just passed to a teammate in a swift counter-attack, but the pitch is in absolute bits and the ball takes a few bobbles before it can reach the overlapping Musonda, which allows Abdennour the time to make the clearance.
ZAMBIA 1-2 TUNISIA (Yassine Chikhaoui)
That might be that, my friends. Zambia look like they're going to pay the ultimate penalty for their selfish attacking play, as Chikhaoui heads past Kweene as Tunisia look like the winner. Kweene should've done better, but Tunisia won't care.
It's just a case of seeing the game out now, as Tunisia earn a corner with around a minute left.
FULL TIME: ZAMBIA 1-2 TUNISIA
Yep, that's all she wrote, folks. Tunisia come from behind to beat a ridiculously selfish Zambia side. That's all we've got time for but join us at 6.30 pm for the other Group B game tonight between Cape Verde and Congo DR. See you there hopefully.
Written by
Shane Callaghan
Shane Callaghan
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