El Kaabi's Spectacular Strike Wraps Up Morocco's Triumph Over the Coelacanths in Africa Cup of Nations Opener.

Host nation the Moroccan side overcame a nervy beginning to overcome their island opponents in the tournament's inaugural fixture on Sunday, thanks to the Real Madrid attacker and super-sub El Kaabi in the latter period.

This constituted a hardly emphatic showing, though, from the heavily tipped Moroccans, who are ranked 97 places higher than the tiny island nation in the FIFA rankings and were forced to work tirelessly for the points in wet conditions at Rabat's Prince Moulay Abdellah stadium.

Nervy Start and Spurned Opportunities

The hosts failed to convert an first-half spot-kick and were goalless at the interval even with dominating possession, eventually opening the scoring in the 55th minute.

It arrived after Noussair Mazraoui showed great skill to prevent the ball from going out before laying it across for Díaz to calmly pass into the net.

“The opening game is always difficult but we delivered in the second half,” said manager Walid Regragui.

The Substitute's Piece of Magic

Any lingering nerves was subsequently eased by a piece of pure genius from Ayoub El Kaabi. Only 10 minutes following his introduction, the striker connected with a ball into the box with a spectacular overhead kick in the 74th minute, making it two and sealing the result.

Before that, the Moroccan team could have been the lead in the 11th minute when a spot-kick was given for a foul on Díaz. However, Rahimi's penalty was saved by Comoros goalkeeper Yannick Pandor.

Comoros Resistance and Second-Half Chance

The underdogs stoutly defended against their more illustrious opponents for long periods before the Moroccans' individual talent in the end told.

Shot-stopper Yannick Pandor pulled off several further good stops to limit the scoreline as the match wore on, although his team did have a clear opportunity for an equalizer shortly following the first goal, with Saïd firing straight at Morocco goalkeeper Bounou.

Fitness Concern for Hosts

The victory was somewhat marred by an injury to Morocco's skipper, Saïss, who was forced off after the 18th minute apparently in tears.

The centre-back had only made his comeback to the international setup recently following a lengthy layoff caused by ankle surgery.

This result continues Morocco's historic run of successive victories to 19, beating the previous best of 15 set by the Spanish national team from 2008 and 2009.