Equatorial Guinea and Congo draw
January 17, 2015
In Saturday's late match, Gabon got the first win of the tournament and jumped out to the lead in Group A after beating Burkina Faso 2-0.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang opened the scoring on 19 minutes. The Dortmund forward latched onto a pass by Andre Poko, and though his initial effort was saved he regained possession of the ball and curled it into the top corner.
The goal came somewhat against the run of play, and Burkina Faso, especially former Hamburg and current Al-Jazira Abu Dhabi winger Jonathan Pitroipa, got a number of good opportunities. Gabonese goalkeeper Didier Ovono was having a blinder, though, and the Panthers took a narrow advantage into the dressing room.
The second half was more of the same, with Burkina Faso creating the chances and Gabon scoring the goal. On 72 minutes, striker Malick Evouna, who plays his club football for Wydad Casablanca, headed home from close range to seal the deal for Gabon.
Congo and Equatorial Guinea draw in first match
Clearly pumped up in front of their fans, Equatorial Guinea were all over Congo from the opening whistle and deservedly went ahead after a quarter of an hour. Emilio Nsue, who plays for English second-division side Middlesborough, blasted home a pass from the end line to send fans of the Nzalang Nacional in the port city of Bata into a frenzy.
Replays suggested that Nsue may have been marginally offside, but the host country was the more aggressive side and good for their 1-0 halftime lead.
On the hour mark, Equatorial Guinea squandered an excellent chance to double their advantage, when Javier Balboa was sprung one-on-one with Congolese keeper Christoffer Mafoumbi. But the man between the sticks got down quickly to save. Ten minutes later Mafoumbi also thwarted Nsue to keep Congo's chances alive.
On 74 minutes, Nsue though he had put the game away after lobbing the ball over Mafoumbi into goal. But the Equatorial Guinean forward was ruled offside this time around.
Congo, though, had picked up their aggressiveness and nearly knotted the score in the 83rd minute when Francis N'Ganga hit the woodwork with a freekick.
And three minutes from time, the hosts finally gave in under Congolese pressure. Dominique Malonga picked out striker Thievy Bifouma from Spanish club Espanyol, and he slid the ball under keeper Felipe Ovono. The Red Devils pushed for a winner, but couldn't get past Ovono in added time.
Both sides had to settle for a 1-1 draw.
The Africa Cup of Nations continues on Sunday with Zambia versus Democratic Republic of Congo and Tunisia against Cape Verde.