Morocco imposed their status as pre-tournament favourites by thrashing 10-man Tanzania 3-0 in thier opening gameat the Laurent Pokou Stadium on Wednesday night.
Captain Romain Saiss fired the first goal 30 minutes into play for the Atlas Iions to put the World Cup semi-finalists ahead at halftime.
Tanzania’s hopes of bouncing back sinked as Novatus Miroshi was sent off after a second caution at the 70th minute.
Seven minutes after, Marseille’s Azzedine Ounahi netted a fabulous goal to make it 2-0 in their favour.
Youssef En-Nesyri crowned the victory with another goal at the 80th minute to seal Morocco’s lead to the end.
So far, Morocco brushed off any ideas of another upset with a commanding win against a struggling Tanzanian side to maintain their lead in Group F.
DR Congo and Zambia share points in AFCON 2023 opener
The Democratic Republic of Congo and Zambia shared points in a tightly contested match that ended 1-1 on Wednesday in the other Group F game in San Pedro.
The first goal of the game came in the 23rd minute of the first half through Zambia’s forward, Kings Kangwa after a poor clearance by goalkeeper Lionel Mpasi of DR Congo.
It took just five minutes for RD Congo to level the scores, as an equaliser from Yoane Wissa found Zambia’s net in the 28th minute, still in the first half.
DR Congo take on Morocco in their second game of Group F next Sunday, January 21, while Zambia will face Tanzania on the same day.