Algeria crush Niger to set up CHAN final against wasteful Senegal
Algiers, Algeria - African Nations Championship leading scorer Aymen Mahious bagged a brace as Algeria hammered Niger 5-0 in Oran on Tuesday to qualify for a final showdown against Senegal.
While the host nation were ruthless when presented with scoring chances, Senegal were guilty of some incredible misses as they edged Madagascar 1-0 in Algiers in the other semi-final.
Algeria will face Senegal before an expected sell-out 40,000 crowd at the Stade Nelson Mandela in Algiers on Saturday, a day after Madagascar and Niger meet in Oran to decide who finishes third.
Mahious, a 25-year-old forward from Algiers club USM, scored three of the goals that earned Algeria four 1-0 victories en route to the penultimate stage of a tournament known as the CHAN. After captain Ayoub Abdellaoui nodded the host nation in front on 15 minutes, Mahious struck with a fierce shot, then a powerful header to take his tour
nament total to five goals.
A nightmare first half for Niger got worse in the final minute when captain Boureima Katkore conceded an own-goal to leave the west Africans four goals behind at the break. Niger fared better in the second half, but there was still time for a tap-in fifth goal from substitute Sofiane Bayazid.
It was the widest winning margin in a CHAN semi-final, surpassing the 4-0 hiding Morocco gave hosts Cameroon two years ago. Algeria also matched the biggest victory in the 15-year history of a unique national team competition as it is confined to footballers playing for clubs in their country of birth.