Bounedjah double gives Algeria nervy Afcon draw against Burkina Faso

Algeria netted a stoppage-time equaliser to escape defeat in the Africa Cup of Nations on Saturday and secure a 2-2 draw with Burkina Faso in Group D in Bouaké. Baghdad Bounedjah’s second goal of the game spared the 2019 champions a major setback.

Bounedjah netted from a corner five minutes into stoppage time at the end to ensure his side a share of the spoils and deny Burkina Faso early progress to the next stage.

Bounedjah had scored early in the second half for Algeria while Mohamed Konaté and Bertrand Traoré netted for the Burkinabé, who remain top of the group on four points compared with two for Algeria.

Burkina Faso came desperately close to a smash-and-grab victory that would have seen them through to the last 16 with a guaranteed top-two finish. They were under pressure for much of the match but had two VAR decisions go in their favour.

Algeria failed to take their first-half opportunities, with Youcef Belaïli wasteful as the Burkinabé goalkeeper Hervé Koffi looked nervous and twice cleared balls straight to the Algerians. He was fortunate they could not finish.

Burkina Faso scored with a rare attack in stoppage time at the end of the first half as a long ball from Abdoul Fessal Tapsoba went over the Algerian defence and was headed homed by a leaping Konaté. The whistle was immediately blown for offside, but a VAR check went in Konaté’s favour.

Algeria equalised in the 51st minute when a free kick was partially blocked and fell for Nabil Bentaleb, whose shot was parried by the goalkeeper down to the feet of Bounedjah. He recovered quickly to sweep the ball in from close range.

Burkina Faso’s lead was restored from the penalty spot in the 71st minute by Traoré, on as a substitute, who had also netted a stoppage-time penalty for a 1-0 win over Mauritania in their first Group D game.

It was another VAR check that went Burkina Faso’s way, revealing a wild tackle by Rayan Aït-Nouri on Issa Kaboré. The referee had not given the kick but replays showed Aït-Nouri had missed the ball as he attempted to clear and caught Kaboré on the shin. A corner late in the game delivered relief for Algeria as Bounedjah leaped to head home from the set piece.

“I have confidence in my players, they came back with the same determination, what we are missing is being more killer [in our instincts],” said Djamel Belmadi, the Algeria coach, afterwards.

Algeria were Afcon winners in 2019 but made a horror defence of their title in Cameroon two years ago, where they went home with a single point and last in their group. They faced a similar scenario again after drawing their opening game in Ivory Coast against Angola, but Bounedjah ensured they live to fight another day.

More to follow.