After the goal drought of the past three games in Segou, the encounter between Morocco and Burkina Faso produced a relative thunderstorm as the North Africans ran out 2-1 winners.
The big hero for the North Africans was their Scottish-based midfielder Hicham Zerouali who scored in each half to claim three vital points for his side in a very tight group.
Zerouali opened the scoring for Morocco in the 23rd minute when he rifled in shot from close range following a cross from the right by Gharib Amzine.
Unfortunately for the Atlas Lions, Amzine was forced to leave the field shortly afterwards with a bad injury.
The Moroccans continued to dominate as Burkina Faso looked a pale shadow of the side which harried and hassled South Africa so effectively last Sunday.
Impressive Dagano
They had no counter to the elusive running of the Moroccan wingers, Zerouali
onthe right and Adil Ramzi on the left.
The Stallions had a great chance to level matters in the 27th minute when Oumar Barro found himself clear in the penalty area as the Moroccan defence waited in vain for the offside flag.
But though Barro managed to push the ball wide of the advancing Ben Zikri, his shot rolled agonizingly past the left upright.
The impressive Moumouni Dagano equalized for Burkina Faso 11 minutes into the second half with a header after the Moroccan defence failed to clear from a free kick.
There were chances at both ends at the start of the second half when first Barro shot straight at a relieved Benzikri and two minutes later Zerouali`s lovely chip struck the Burkina Faso upright.
But just when Burkina Faso were pressing for the winner it was Zerouali who headed home a loose ball after the Stallions defence failed to clear from a corner.
