December 31, (THEWILL) — Ivory Coast fought back from two goals down to defeat Gabon 3-2 in a thrilling Africa Cup of Nations encounter, clinching top spot in Group F and progression to the round of 16.
Substitute Bazoumana Toure headed home the decisive goal in the closing stages to complete a remarkable turnaround for the reigning champions.
Gabon, missing the injured Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, raced into a 2-0 lead inside the opening 21 minutes.
Guelor Kanga capitalised on goalkeeper Alban Lafont’s spill to open the scoring in the 11th minute, before Denis Bouanga curled home a superb strike from inside the box after Kanga’s deflected cross found him unmarked.
Ivory Coast responded before half-time when Wilfried Zaha set up Kean-Philippe Krasso to reduce the deficit.
The second half saw Gabon miss opportunities to extend their advantage, with Clench Loufilou and Teddy Averlant both firing narrowly over.
Those missed chances proved costly when Evann Guessand powered home a header in the 84th minute to level the score at 2-2.
Toure then struck in the dying moments, flicking his header beyond goalkeeper Francois Bekale to give Ivory Coast all three points.
Late drama continued when Ousmane Diomande thought he had added a fourth, only for the goal to be ruled out for offside during stoppage time.
The result meant Cameroon finished second in Group F despite defeating Mozambique 2-1, with Christian Kofame netting the winner.
Cameroon had come from behind but could only match the Ivory Coast on points, losing out on first place due to goals scored.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
