Morocco eased into the knockout phase of the Africa Cup of Nations on Friday but fellow title contenders Senegal again laboured in front of goal as they were held by Guinea.
Only Senegal sit above Morocco among African teams in the FIFA world ranking and the Atlas Lions made it two wins and two clean sheets from two matches at this AFCON as they beat tournament debutants the Comoros 2-0 at the Stade Ahmadou Ahidjo in Yaounde.
Selim Amallah gave the 1976 champions an early lead and then set up substitute Zakaria Aboukhlal to seal the win a minute from time with a goal that was initially disallowed for offside before being given following a VAR check.
In between, Vahid Halilhodzic’s Moroccan side were regularly frustrated as Nayef Aguerd hit the underside of the crossbar with a header and Comoros goalkeeper Salim Ben Boina produced some heroic saves.
Boina, who plays in France’s amateur regional fifth tier, produced a remarkable quadruple save on his line and then kept out a late Youssef En-Nesyri penalty.
Morocco are now certain to reach the last 16 and are well-placed to go through as winners of Group C.
The Comoros, the island nation in the Indian Ocean, are still looking for their first goal and point at their first ever Cup of Nations after losing 1-0 to Gabon in their opening match.
Goals have been few and far between throughout the Cup of Nations so far, with just four of the 17 matches played featuring more than a single goal.
READ ALSOSenegal, Guinea Settle for draw in second outing
After losing the 2019 final to Algeria, Senegal have high hopes of finally winning a first continental title in Cameroon but they needed a 97th-minute Sadio Mane penalty to beat Zimbabwe 1-0 in their opening game and on Friday they drew 0-0 with west African neighbours Guinea in Bafoussam. In another encounter Flames of Malawi subdued Warriors of Zimbabwe 2-1 to earn three points