Held in check on the first day by Angola, Algeria were desperate for a win when facing Burkina Faso in their second TotalEnergies Group D match on Saturday afternoon.
The highly entertaining and drama filled tie concluded with both sides sharing the spoils with a 2-2 draw.
With the match destined for another Burkina Faso win, Djamel Belmadi’s showed character by fighting back to salvage a point and keep their campaign alive.With the game evenly balanced for most parts of the opening half, it was the Stallions who opened the scoring through a stunning header by Mohamed Konate with seconds before the break.
Coming back from the recess, Baghdad Bounedjah pounced on a defensive mix up with the equaliser in the 51st minute.
With momentum on their side, Algeria dominated the encounter but failed to capitalise on a number of created opportunities.
For this, they were severely punished after Bertrand Traore levelled matters with a penalty in the 71st minute to regain the advantage.
The match continued with Algeria pressing for the equaliser while the Stallions waited patiently to catch them on the counter.
Parity was eventually restored with seconds on the clock with Bounedjah again being the man of the moment for the former champions after doing well to rise above his markers to find the brace that kept his side in contention for a knockout stage place.
The last match of the group sees Algeria facing Mauritania on Tuesday, while group leaders, Burkina Faso take on Angola.
