Cameroon held to 1-1 draw in Saint Petersburg

epa06043765 Aaron Mooy (L) of Australia and Arnaud Djoum of Cameroon in action during the FIFA Confederations Cup 2017 group B soccer match between Cameroon and Australia at the Saint Petersburg stadium in St.Petersburg, Russia, 22 June 2017. EPA/ANATOLY MALTSEV

by Bertin Basson

Thursday Jun 22, 2017. 19:07

Cameroon were made to rue several missed opportunities as Australia held the African champions to a 1-1 stalemate at the Krestovsky Stadium in Saint Petersburg, Russia on Thursday.

The result leaves both teams in a desperate position in Group B after two rounds of fixtures at the 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup, with both teams now needing a win in their final game against Chile and Germany respectively to progress.

Either side conjured chances early on with Robbie Kruse and Vincent Aboubakar seeing their attempts at opposite ends of the pitch come to naught.

The Indomitable Lions ended the half the stronger of the two teams, notably winning four corner-kicks in succession as they turned the screw on their Australasian opponents.

Their persistence would finally pay off as André-Frank Zambo Anguissa found the back of the net with virtually the final kick of the half.

The midfielder racing onto a long ball forward by Michael Ngadeu-Ngadjui before guiding a perfectly placed chip over the onrushing Mathew Ryan.

Australia eyed an immediate reply following the break as Tomi Juric saw his shot wide of goal following a pin-point cross by Mathew Leckie two minutes after the interval.

Aboubakar should have doubled the Indomitable Lions lead in the 57th minute, but with the goal at his mercy the burly forward could only succeed in guiding his rasping shot narrowly wide of goal.

He was made to pay for the miss on the hour mark as Australia pulled level from the penalty spot. Mark Milligan making no mistake from 12 yards following a reckless foul on Alex Gersbach inside the area. The video assistant confirming that the referee was correct in his judgement.

Cameroon dominated the final exchanges in terms of chances with Aboubakar wasteful on two more occasions before the final whistle.

Ultimately, though, the two teams would not be separated - doing either side no favours heading into the final round of group fixtures.

Cameroon: Ondoa; Mabouka, Teikeu, Ngadeu-Ngadjui, Fai; Anguissa, Siani, Djoum; Moukandjo (Toko 77'), Aboubakar, Bassogog

Australia: Ryan; Wright, Sainsbury, Degenek - Milligan, Mooy - Gersbach, Rogic (Irvine 80'), Kruse (Troisi 65'), Leckie - Juric (Cahill 70')