The first round of AFCON, it’s was the inspired goalkeeper of Sierra Leone – Mohamed Kamara. This evening at Japoma Stadium in Douala, it was the whole backline of Equatorial Guinea and Esteban Obiang who were lethal for the reigning champions of Africa. Algeria were beaten 0-1 and with this defeat are frighteningly close to leaving the competition after the group stage.A shock victory by the 114th in the world leaves the defending AFCON champions bottom of Group E and on the verge of a surprise early exit.Equatorial Guinea put up a stubborn resistance throughout the encounter – goalkeeper Jesús Owono produced a number of superb saves, especially a double save he pulled when the defensive line was finally broken.AFCON 2021: Sierra Leone hold off another giant! Laughable Sangare reaction gifts Leone Stars a pointBaghdad Bounedjah managed to score for Algeria in the 23rd minute but his effort was ruled out for offside, but all in all, in truth the defending champions did not deserve a win, given their tame showing.Three yellow cards in the opening ten minutes alone perhaps disrupted the game’s fluidity as referee Escobar seemed set on stopping the game at every possibility.The favourites struggled to create chances and they found themselves lucky to stay on level terms, as Pablo Ganet’s free-kick forced a decent save. Frustrated Algeria were lucky again soon after as Iban Salvador was just inches away from an unlikely opener for the National Thunder.Shortly after the break, Raïs M’Bolhi denied Luis Nlavo and if that was not enough of a warning for the North Africans, what came in the 70th minute surely was.They were embarrassed when the underdogs took a shock lead through Obiang who rifled home from inside the area. After Djamel Belmadi’s men had failed to clear a corner, a surprising lead came to bring an eruption of joy for Equatorial Guinea.Before Obiang struck, the defending champions were a dominant side – Youcef Belaïli had his header cleared off the line, Riyad Mahrez sent a free-kick near the post, Owono produced a series of saves to keep his counterparts afloat.A late equalizer by Youcef Belaïli was ruled out for offside, also Obiang was close to shaking his own net but it would have been an undeserved point for the pre-tournament favourites.Riyad Mahrez vs Equatorial Guinea ||Best touch in football|| ||UNBEATEN in 35 games|| ||Best in Africa|| pic.twitter.com/JUR9RVHoy4— Rəəbin (@ReebinhoFC) January 16, 2022 Algeria may have lifted the AFCON trophy in Egypt three years ago but this was an awful night in their proud footballing history.Just two games into the 2022 edition, the Fennec Foxes find their defence under serious threat. Equatorial Guinea, meanwhile, go a surprise second in their group.The clash of the titans between Ivory Coast and Algeria on the 20th of January will most probably unravel the messy situation in group E.AFRICA CUP OF NATIONSGroup EIvory Coast – Sierra Leone 2-2 (1-0)/Haller 25, Pepe 65 – M.N. Kamara 55, A. Kamara 90+3/Algeria – Equatorial Guinea 0-1 (0-0)/Obiang 70/
