Rayan Ait-Nouri played in the entirety of Algeria’s 1-0 Africa Cup of Nations win over Burkina Faso on Sunday evening.
The triumph means Algeria have progressed to the knockouts without conceding a goal in their opening two matches and sit top of Group E with six points.
After an exciting start to the match, with end-to-end football, Algeria began to enjoy more chances.
Ait-Nouri darted forward, helping overload their opponents’ third, and in turn drew a foul in the penalty area by Burkina Faso’s Ismahila Ouedraogo.
Former Blue Riyad Mahrez fired Algeria ahead on 23 minutes from the resulting spot kick, in what would prove to be the decisive moment not just in the first half, but the whole game.
The second 45 minutes continued to showcase high-energy, exciting football from both sides, with Ait-Nouri finding the perfect balance of completing his defensive duties and helping Algeria in moments when they went on the attack.
Ait-Nouri almost doubled Algeria’s lead on 77 minutes with a chance that could have put the game out of reach for Burkina Faso. He tried to sneak his low, left-footed shot in at the near post in what would have been his first goal for his nation.
But the City full-back was denied by goalkeeper Herve Koffi, who did well to get a hand low quickly.
Burkina Faso pushed relentlessly for an equaliser in the final 10 minutes, but Ait-Nouri and his defensive team-mates reduced their opponents to just two shots on target in what was another clinical performance by the Fennec Foxes.
Like Ait-Nouri’s City team-mate Omar Marmoush and Egypt, Algeria held out for a second successive win that has confirmed their place in the knockout stages.
Their final Group E game will see Ait-Nouri and Algeria take on Equatorial Guinea at 16:00 (UK) on Wednesday 31 December.
A round-up of the match will be available on mancity.com and the Official Man City App shortly after full-time.
