Extra-time substitute Adil Boulbina fired home a sumptuous strike to send Algeria into the last eight at the Africa Cup of Nations on Tuesday night at the expense of the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The 22-year-old had been on the pitch for four minutes when he received the ball along the left wing from fellow substitue Ramiz Zerrouki.
Boulbina drove towards the penalty area, cut inside defender Aaron Wan-Bissaka onto his right foot and unleashed a shot that rasped over the bedazzled DRC goalkeeper Lionel Nzau Mpasi and dipped under the bar into the net.
The 117th minute thunderbolt furnished the striker, who plays his club football with the Qatari outfit Al-Duhail, with the man-of-the-match accolade.
It was also ample recompense for an Algeria side that displayed more craft and composure throughout the encounter at the Stade Moulay Hassan in Rabat.
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"It was an incredible scenario at the end," Algeria defender Aissa Mandi told broadcaster Bein Sport.
"It was an emotional victory," added the 34-year-old. "All the players said at the beginning of the competition that we must stay united whatever happens and that those who come on as substitutes even for five minutes have a part to play."
Algeria, who won the first Cup of Nations tournament to parade 24 teams in 2019, went into the last-16 tie as one of the two sides boasting a 100 per cent record during the group stages. DRC had emerged from their pool second behind Senegal.
The DRC coach Sébastien Desabre and his Algeria counterpart, Vladimir Petkovic, had forecast a rugged encounter. And their charges proved the predictions correct.
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Algeria's victory in extremis advances them to a quarter-final showdown on Saturday in Marrakesh against Nigeria - the other side to have won all three ties during the group stages.
The DRC, who took fourth place at the 2023 Cup of Nations in Cote d'Ivoire, will lick their wounds and prepare for a tilt at a place at the World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico.
They will take on New Caledonia or Jamaica for the one-off match in March that could send them to the men's World Cup for the first time in more than 50 years.
