Cosafa Cup Day 5 wrap: Comoros make history

Comoros have made history with a first-ever qualification for the Cosafa Cup quarterfinals following a 2-1 victory over Mauritius at the King Zwelithini Stadium on Wednesday evening.

The victory leaves Comoros top of Group A with four points, followed by eSwatini (two) and Mauritius (one).

The match was billed as a winner-takes-all contest, and Comoros can now celebrate a quarterfinal against defending champions Zimbabwe on Saturday, where they will hope to spring a major surprise.

Youssouf Ibroihim and Soulaimana Ibouniyamine netted for Comoros, while Ashley Nazira was on target for Mauritius, and in doing so moved to the top of the Cosafa Cup scorers charts with his third of the campaign.

There were few chances in the opening 45 minutes as both teams battled to create clear-cut chances and were reduced to shooting from distance.

Hachim El Haddad flashed a 25-yard shot just wide of goal for Comoros, but the best two chances of the half fell at the other end to Mauritius forward Jean Nabab.

First, he found plenty of space on the right of the box but saw his effort saved by Comoros goalkeeper Fahadi Mohamed, and then hit a shot on the turn that was plucked out of the air by the gloveman.

That left the teams goalless at the break, but Comoros found the opener just minutes into the second half and it came via an excellent strike.

Ibroihim produced a brilliant turn on the edge of the box and with space opening up in front of him, shot into the corner of the net.

Mauritius equalised shortly afterwards though as the lively Nazira netted his third goal of the tournament with a fine finish, and at that stage, the group swung back in favour of eSwatini.

But Comoros hit the front again on 65 minutes, Ibouniyamine beating the offside trap and showing great control, before lifting the ball past Mauritius goalkeeper Kevin Jean-Louis.

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