Despite being without their superstar, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Gabon enjoyed a winning start to their AFCON campaign against the debutants from Comoros. Aaron Boupendza scored the only goal of the match in the 16th minute.
FROM THAT ANGLE 📐 😱#TotalEnergiesAFCON2021 | #AFCON2021 | #TeamGabon | @fegafoot_gabon | #GoalOfTheDay | @1xbet_Eng pic.twitter.com/4Ff6SX3Opp
— CAF (@CAF_Online) January 10, 2022
Apart from their strong entrance into the game, Gabon did nothing else special. The team that dominated throughout the most part of the match was actually the Comoros. They have been the team that was in charge on the pitch, but the lack of ideas in attack came in decisive in the end.
This was Comoros’ first match in the Africa Cup of Nations in their history. Their star player, Faiz Salemani, missed the game due to Covid-19 as they had to rely most on El Fardou Ben and Youssouf M’Changama.
Aaron Boupendza was named Man of the Match as his goal was probably the most entertaining thing that happened throughout the 90 minutes. Gabon had to deal with Comoros without Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Mario Lemina, and Axel Meye.
The TotalEnergies Man of the #COMGAB Match is Aaron Boupendza 🇬🇦#TotalEnergiesAFCON2021 | #AFCON2021 | @Football2Gether pic.twitter.com/zS5npTyrbm
— CAF (@CAF_Online) January 10, 2022
The Gabonese will try to top their best result from 1996 and 2012 when they reached the Quarterfinals of the tournament. The Comoros will have a pretty tough task, since they will need to beat someone among Ghana and Morocco in order to have a chance at qualifying for the Knockout Stage.
Gabon will face Ghana who will try to get out of further trouble as the Black Stars lost their opening game to Morocco. The Comoros will be looking for an upset against the Atlas Lions who are on top of the table in Group C with 3 points.
