First half goals from Romell Quioto, Anthony Lozano and Marcelo Pereira led Honduras to an impressive opening Olympic win over Algeria at the Estádio Olímpico João Havelange in Rio de Janeiro on Thursday.
Sofiane Bendebka and Baghdad Bounedjah scored Algeria’s goal in the 3-2 loss.
Honduras move atop Group D for at least a few hours, with Portugal and Argentina set to kickoff at 5 p.m. EDT.
MORE: Highlights/match replay here
Honduras took advantage of a razor-thin onside run from Lozano, who then made an ankle-breaking cut in the box. His shot was saved, but Quioto would work the rebound over the line to make it 1-0 in the 13th minute.
An unlikely goal in many ways came next, as defender Pereira then headed a ball from the edge of the 18 that looped over Farid Chaal, who was only starting because of a tournament-ending injury to Abdelkader Salhi.
Algeria woke up in the second half, though Honduras’ physical if foul happy style was a proper obstacle to the African side’s comeback.
The two combustible sides saw their tempers reach boiling points in the 56th minute, crowding around an injured player as the referee attempted to keep things sane.
Algeria nabbed a goal via a gutty header from Bendebka with more than 20 minutes to play, but Honduras pulled one back thanks to another error on Chaal. The Algerian keeper spilled an easy cross right onto the foot on Lozano, who simply loved the chance to score from the six.
Bounedjah made a cool chest trap on a 85th minute cross before passing the ball inside the right post as Algeria pulled within one.
