Commenting on England, he said, "I don't know what happened to them. I expected them to play better."
From the off, the Algerians looked more composed in possession and comfortable with their game plan, restricting the space for England in midfield by playing a 4-5-1 formation and breaking at pace. While they never looked likely to win it, they will feel they have carried out their plans to perfection and were the better team on the night.
Besides M'Bolhi, who replaced Faouzi Chaouchi to be a starter, midfielder Karim Ziani from Bundesliga giants Wolfsburg was the most eye-catching player for Algeria. His left-wing breakthrough highlighted the African attackings. But scoring chances were little.
So far in Group C, Slovenia are at the top with one win and a tie, followed by the United States with two ties, England also two ties but less goals, and Algeria one tie and one loss.