Soccer: Ivory Coast beats Ghana 3-1, moves to quarter-finals African Cup of Nations

Ivory Coast beats Ghana 3-1, moves to quarter-finals African Cup of Nations

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Ivory Coast beat Ghana 3-1 to become the first quarter-finalist at the African Cup of Nations in Angola a few minutes ago, on Friday. Ivory Coast, down to 10 men after Emmanuel Eboue was sent off in the 56th minute, has four points from two games in the tapered Group B, enough to guarantee a spot in the knockout phase.

Ghana, which was playing its first game following Togo’s withdrawal, will meet Burkina Faso next Tuesday in a winner-takes-all match. Each of the three teams will play only twice in Group B after Togo withdrew following a deadly attack against its team bus before the tournament started.

Gervinho, Siaka Tiene and Didier Drogba scored for Ivory Coast, and Asamoah Gyan replied for Ghana in injury time.

Ivory Coast coach Vahid Halilhodzic started without striker Baky Kone, who was replaced by Salomon Kalou after missing three clear chances against Burkina Faso.

Chelsea midfielder Michael Essien was left out of Ghana’s starting lineup after a late arrival in Angola due to bad weather in England. He was sent in after halftime for his first action in a month following a hamstring strain.

In a match pitting two World Cup qualifiers, Ghana was immediately threatening with a long free kick that went wide in the fifth minute.

Under-20 World Cup winner Agyemang Opoku then challenged Ivory Coast goalkeeper Boubacar Barry with a low shot from outside the box in the 10th minute.  ref: cbcpress

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