- Emilio Nsue scored a brace in the 4-0 win
- Equatorial Guinea top the group
- Ivory Coast face elimination
Ivory Coast, the hosts of the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON)were stunned, suffering a humiliating 4-0 defeat at the hands of Equatorial Guinea in their final Group A match in Abidjan.
Veteran skipper Emilio Nsue scored a double while Pablo Ganet and Jannick Buyla added one each, to stun the fully packed stadium in the Ivorian capital.
The result means Equatorial Guinea top Group A with seven points while Ivory Coast are now staring at elimination. They have to wait until the final round of group matches to know if they can squeeze in among the four best placed number three teams.
Equatorial Guinea, who had thrashed Guinea Bissau 4-2 in their last match, came into the match with confidence and were not intimidated by the full stadium. However, they were almost stunned after half an hour when Nicholas Pepe broke into the box, but keeper Jesus Owono made a good pick one on one.
Five minutes to the break, the Ivorians were stunned when Nsue broke the deadlock, flicking the ball home after some individual brilliance from Carlos Martinez who delivered the cross from the left.
At the stroke of halftime, Ivory Coast thought they had levelled when Ibrahim Sangare finished off inside the box but the goal was ruled out for offside.
Ivory Coast pile more pressure
Ivory Coast players console each other after the final whistle. PHOTO/CAF
In the second half, Les Elephants continued to pile the pressure and they were unfortunate to have a second goal disallowed for offside when Jean Philippe Krasso’s goal, moments after coming on was chalked off by VAR for offside.
Two goals in two minutes in the 73rd and 75th minutes completely outdid the Ivorians, Ganet scoring with a superb freekick, curling the ball beyond the wall after an infringement at the edge of the area.
Off a well executed counter attack, Nsue scored with his fifth goal of the tournament, slapping the ball beyond the keeper from the right. Buyla completed the job two minutes to time, another neat finish by the Equatoguineans, completely finishing off the hosts.
Meanwhile, Nigeria assured themselves of finishing second in the group after a hard earned 1-0 win over Guinea Bissau. Opa Sangante’s own goal was enough for the Super Eagles to get the win and remain unbeaten in the tournament.
The victory saw them go seven points in the group, same as Equatorial Guinea, but with an inferior goal difference. But, they wouldn’t care much as it was enough to take them to the round of 16.
Sangante own goal lifts Nigeria
Nigeria players after their win over Guinea Bissau. PHOTO/CAF
After a closely contested opening few minutes in Abidjan, Nigeria found their way into the lead when Sangante directed the ball into his own net in the 36th minute as he tried to cut out Moses Simon’s cross from the left with Victor Osimhen lurking behind him.
The goal gave Nigeria some motivation and they should have gone 2-0 up at the stroke of halftime when Simon delivered another brilliant cross from the left, but Osimhen’s connecting header was just wide.
In the second half, Nigeria began with same gear and should have had a goal two minutes on the turn when Samuel Chukwueze picked out Simon with a brilliant pass through on goal but the latter was denied one on one with the keeper.
Osimhen thought he had scored in the 58th minute but the goal was chalked off as he had handled the ball before tapping home.
Eight minutes to time, Guinea Bissau who had been industrious in the final quarter of an hour thought they had levelled when Franculino Gluda fired home from inside the box but the goal was ruled out for offside.
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