30th June, 2019
Saturday was remarkably a day of no goals at the 2019 Total Africa Cup of Nations in Egypt. After two barren draws between Mauritania and Angola (Group E), Cameroon and Ghana (Group F), Benin and Guinea-Bissau capped the day with another goalless draw at Ismailia Stadium.
It was a game with almost no clear chances at all, as both side suffered to threaten their opponent’s goals.
Benin raised their tally to 2 points, tied with Ghana and behind leaders Cameroon (4 points), while Guinea-Bissau earned their first point of the campaign. The campaign for qualification for Round of 16 thus goes to the wire: qualifiers will be known on Match Day 3.
With both sides adopting cautious style, the opening half was a tale of rare chances. It took 27 minutes to witness the game’s first attempt when Benin’s Steve Mounie’s header missed the target. Guinea-Bissau tried to respond with Sory Mane attempting a shot from distance but his ball was deflected to a corner kick.
Mounie was once again the source of threat for Benin when he rounded his marker and sent a low shot that found the hands of Guinea-Bissau goalkeeper Jonas Mendes. The first half ended without goals or even clear chances.
The second half was no different story. No chances were recorded till the 67th minute, when Mounie once again was the source of threat for “The Squirrels” as he received the ball inside Guinea-Bissau penalty area but he failed to convert.
Mounie was came near to give Benin the lead, but his header after a freekick missed the target by a slim margin after 75 minutes with the keeper completely beaten.
Substitute Jodel Dossou tried to make use of a rebound ball from Guinea-Bissau defense, but his ball was deflected four minutes from time.