Ivory Coast Stroll Into Afcon Final

Ivory Coast booked their place in the 2015 African Cup of Nations final following a 3-1 win over the Democratic Republic of Congo at the Estadio de Bata on Wednesday evening.
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Goals from Yaya Toure, Gervinho and Serge Wilfried Kanon secured the Elephants’ place in the Afcon final for the third time in nine years.
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Having netted 10 goals between them in two qualifying match-ups, goals were to be expected and that is exactly what the sides delivered in what was a thrilling semifinal encounter.
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Both teams were guilty of starting slow at this year’s tournament, but DR Congo should have been ahead with six minutes on the clock.
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Jeremie Bokila shrugged off his marker before forcing Sylvain Gbohouo into a superb reflex save,
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Ivory Coast soon found their rhythm and opened the scoring through African Footballer of the Year Yaya Toure in the 20th minute.
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Wilfried Bony’s blocked effort fell favourably for the Elephants captain who fired an unstoppable effort past Robert Kidiaba from the edge of the area.
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The Ivorian’s lead though would only last four minutes as Dieumerci Mbokani grabbed his third goal of the tournament from the penalty spot — Eric Bailly leaving the referee with no option to award a penalty after he handled the ball inside the area.
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Superb last-ditch defending by Gabriel Zakuani kept out Gervinho in the 40th minute. The Roma attacker looked sure to score as he latched onto Serge Aurier’s pin-point cross, but Zakuani was there to head to ball onto the crossbar and away from danger.
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The DRC defender though could do nothing a minute later as the formal Arsenal man restored the Elephants’ lead.
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A mistake in midfield opened up space for Wilfired Bony whose perfectly weighted pass picked out the flying Gervinho, the Ivory Coast winger finding the back of the net with a curling shot.
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Like in the first half, the Leopards started the second stanza the better of the two sides with Yannick Bolasie forcing Gbohouo into a fine save in the 54th minute.
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The Crystal Palace winger picked up the ball on the left before weaving his way past four defenders and shooting at goal. Gbohouo though was up to the task to deny Bolasie what would’ve been a wonder goal.
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Despite DR Congo’s intentions, it was Ivory Coast who would score next, Kanon doubling the Elephants’ lead in the 68th minute.
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Kidiaba did brilliantly to deny Serge Aurier from a Yaya Toure corner-kick, but the veteran glovesman could do little to deny Kanon who stabbed in the rebound.
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Both teams had chances to add to their tally in the final exchanges, but neither could do so as the Ivory Coast progressed to yet another Afcon final.
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The 1992 champions will face either Ghana or hosts Equatorial Guinea in the 2015 Afcon final on Sunday.