Guinea head coach Kaba Diawara said he was delighted with his high-scoring side as they saw off Ethiopia 3-2 at the Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium in Rabat, Morocco to inch closer to qualification for the 2023 TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations.
The tactician said they analyzed their performance from the first leg against the Ethiopians, and he was pleased with their rate of converting chances.
"The game was good and we tried to score as many goals as possible. We were stronger and quicker. We analyzed from the vide of the first game and we realized we can create more chances from the wings and I am glad that we tried to do that and scored three goals," the tactician said.
The victory saw the Guineans move to nine points in Group D with three wins from four matches, three ahead of second placed Egypt who play Malawi later on Tuesday. Diawara has however asked his players to keep their focus and ensure they win the last two matches.
"We have still not qualified and we need to win the last two matches in June, especially against Egypt who beat us in the first round. This is like boxing; they took the first round now we have to take the second one," the coach noted.
Ethiopia on the other end remain rooted bottom of the log with just three points and their hopes of qualification have grown slimmer.
"We missed some quality players because of injuries. From the two games, we played a bit better today and it was unfortunate we lost. We will try to see what we can achieve in the last two games," said Ethiopia's coach Wubetu Abate.
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As early as the fifth minute, the Guineans had struck first blood, skipper Naby Keita breaking the deadlock with a delightful finish. The Liverpool FC midfielder raced on to a Francois Kamano brilliant pass before sweeping it low past the keeper.
But, Ethiopia showed fight, looking to keep their qualification dreams alive. Their persistence paid off in the 34th minute when Canaan Markneh smashed in the equalizer from inside the box after some delightful build up play which ended in Chernet Gugsa cutting a cross into the box.
But, the Syli Nationale clinched back the lead three minutes to the break when Keita turned from scorer to provider, sending Ilaix Moriba through on goal with the latter striking low on the left foot.
In the second half, Guinea started off dominant and they pushed to get a third to cushion their lead. They did so in the 70th minute when Moriba also added an assist to his goal, clipping the ball over the defense to pick out the run of Morgan Guilavogui.
The Paris FC forward made no mistake, striking a low shot past the keeper.
Ethiopia pulled one back at the death, Kitika Jemma tapping home unmarked from point blank range off a low cross from Suleman Hamid.
