Angola fought back to earn a 1-1 draw against Tunisia in their opening Group E fixture of the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations played on Monday evening at the Suez Stadium.

The Palancas Negras had the first real chance of the game. Herenilson had an opportunity just after 4 minutes but his attempt was saved by Tunisia keeper Ben Mustapha.

The Carthage Eagles were more patient and organized waiting for Angola to make mistakes. A lot of spaces were opening up in midfield and eventually, Angola were exposed at the back. Salomão Manuel Troco penalized for a foul on Naïm Sliti in the penalty area.

Penalty was given and captain Youssef Msakni obliged with a well taken penalty to give Tunisia a 34th minute lead.

Delight for Alain Giresse the Tunisia coach as his team went into the break on the front foot. Not so much for Srdjan Vasiljevic in the Angolan dugout.

After the break, the Angolan team tried to push for an equalizer but weren’t able to create chances to trouble the Tunisian defense.

But the Angolans kept on pushing and were rewarded for their efforts in the 73rd minute. An error from keeper Ben Mustapha gifted Djalma Campos a goal. Mateus Da Costa let fly from outside the box and the Tunisian keeper spilled the ball in the path of Djalma for an easy tap in.

The scores remained level at full-time even though Youssef Msakni had a stinging shot from range to try and steal all three points but Cabaça in the Angolan goal was equal to the task.

Kelvin Trudeau Musako

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