Congo beat Gabon, Burkina Faso's Africa Cup of Nations struggles
January 21, 2015
Congo are in pole position to reach the quarterfinals of the Africa Cup of Nations after recording their first win at the tournament since 1974.
The 1972 African champions were less fancied than Gabon who had started the tournament on the front-foot, led by Borussia Dortmund's Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.
But Gabon's teutonic figure was quiet - snuffed out by the disciplined Congolese side that needs to land a point against Burkina Faso to guarantee their place in the next round.
Yet for all of Gabon's chances in the first-half, Congo struck three minutes after the break. Prince Oniangue, the team captain, reacted quickly at the edge of the box to power home after Gabon failed to defend a set piece.
The midfielder who plays for Reims in France nearly bagged his second just moments later, but the one-goal advantage proved to be enough to land a valuable three points.
Claude Le Roy's side are competing at the Cup of Nations for the first time since 2000 and could land a favorable draw in the knockout phase by holding on to first-place.
Now-or-never for Burkina Faso
In the earlier match in Bata, Burkina Faso failed to make their superiority count against the host nation who held firm to keep the game scoreless.
The 2013 AFCON finalists, Burkina Faso, with former Hamburg forward Jonathan Pitroipa in their ranks hit the woodwork twice in the first half an hour.
But even with sustained dominance going into the second 45 minutes, Equatorial Guinea had lady luck shining on them as they picked up their second point from two games.
That leaves Group A essentially wide open for the final round of fixtures with Congo on four points, Gabon on three, one more than the hosts and two ahead of Burkina Faso who are in a critical condition going into the last game.
Elsewhere in Equatorial Guinea, Ivory Coast were handed a major blow with the two-game suspension of Roma winger Gervinho who was sent off in the draw with Guinea for striking an opponent.
"I would like to apologize to the Ivory Coast nation, my team mates, the fans and the African Nations Cup organizers for this gesture of anger," he said on social media. "It is not like me and does not have its place on a football pitch."
Gervinho's next match at the tournament could be the knockout stages, should his team qualify.
rd/sb (RTRE)