Ivory Coast and Cameroon played out an entertaining 1-1 draw in Sunday night’s AFCON clash at the Stade de Marrakech, SportPremi Reports.
After a dull first half affair, the game came to life in the second half as Ghislain Konan’s unfortunate own goal canceled out a fantastic opener from Amad Diallo.
Both nations have four points after two matches, while Mozambique have three points following their 3-2 win over Gabon earlier in the day.
First half: Goalless encounter in Marrakech
Ivory Coast recorded a 1-0 win over Mozambique in their opening clash, while Cameroon also sealed a hard-fought 1-0 win over Gabon in their own clash.
The half was evenly contested with nothing to separate both sides, but the Indomitable Lions went closest to opening the scoring through Christian Kofane, but his effort eas tipped onto the bar.
That proved to be the only effort on target in an uneventful first half which ended goalless.
Second half: Konan’s own goal cancels out Amad’s opener in entertaining half
The first few minutes of the second half was more chaotic than the entire first half with two goals, one crossbar and a disallowed goal.
Issouf Bayo found the back of the net for Ivory Coast in the 48th minute, but the strike was ruled out by VAR for a foul in the buildup.
It was end-to-end in the affair as Cameroon struck the crossbar one minute later, before Ivory Coast picked up the loose ball and took the lead with a devastating counter attack.
Konan played a through ball to Amad Diallo, who fired a stunning strike into the top corner to give the defending champions the lead.
However, the Indomitable Lions were only behind for five minutes as Tchamadeu’s effort took a huge deflection off Konan and looped over Fofana into the back of the net.
Kessie almost restored the Elephants lead, but was denied by a superb save from Epassy.
The clash ended in a dramatic 1-1 draw heading into the final round of group stage matches.
Players Ratings:
Ivory Coast Players Ratings
- Fofana – 6.7/10
- Doue – 7.0/10
- Kossounou – 7.1/10
- N’Dicka – 6.4/10
- Konan – 6.9/10
- Kessie – 6.4/10
- Sangare – 6.2/10
- Fofana – 6.7/10
- Amad – 8.3/10
- Bayo – 6.9/10
- Diomande – 7.2/10
Substitutes
- Gbamin – 6.3/10
- Oulai – 6.1/10
- Guessand – 6.0/10
- Zaha – N/A
Cameroon Players Ratings
- Epassy – 7.0/10
- Tolo – 6.9/10
- Kotto – 6.6/10
- Malone – 6.8/10
- Yongwa – 6.3/10
- Baleba – 6.6/10
- Avom – 6.8/10
- Tchamadeu – 6.8/10
- Namaso – 6.9/10
- Mbeumo – 6.8/10
- Kofane – 6.5/10
Substitutes
- Eyong – 6.2/10
- Kemen – 6.3/10
- Bassogog – 6.1/10
- Boyomo – N/A
Man of the match
Amad Diallo (8.3/10) – The Ivory Coast forward grabbed his second goal of the tournament with a stunning goal early in the second half and created the most chances (4) in a superb overall display.
Key Stats
Ball Possession: Ivory Coast 51% – 49% Cameroon
Total Shots: Ivory Coast 13 – 12 Cameroon
Shots on target: Ivory Coast 2 – 2 Cameroon
Pass Accuracy: Ivory Coast 83% – 82% Cameroon
Corners: Ivory Coast 7 – 3 Cameroon
What Next?
Ivory Coast head into their final clash against Gabon next Wednesday, hoping to better Cameroon’s result against Mozambique to finish top of the group.
