The Democratic Republic of Congo advanced to the semifinals of the Africa Cup of Nations after a superb 3-1 win over Guinea at the Alassane Ouattara Stadium in Abidjan.
Tonight’s victory was the Leopards fourth consecutive head-to-head win over the Syli Nationals. The opening minutes of this match was played at a frantic pace as both side’s threatened each other’s goal spurning glorious chances.
Guinea was, however, awarded a contentious penalty as Chancel Mbemba made a bad challenge by pushing Mohammed Bayo in the 18th minute which left referee Mustapha Ghorbal with no other option than to whistle for a foul as he pointed to the spot to award a penalty to Guinea.
Fresh from scoring the winning goal in the round of 16, Bayo gleefully stepped up to the spot and fired the ball home as he sent Lionel Mpasi the wrong way to give the Syli National the lead.
Desperate to make amends by proving a point for his mistake, Mbemba fired a clinical finish into the roof of the net seven minutes later after Arthur Masuaku’s corner wasn’t dealt with by the Guinean defence as the match went into recess by 1-1.
Congo carried their momentum into the second half as substitute Silas was clipped down in the box by Julian Jeanvier. Yoan Wissa stepped forward to play the spot kick as he notched the ball into the bottom left corner, giving DRC an advantage as the match headed into the last 20 minutes.
Congo scored their third on the night with eight minutes remaining to end proceedings, as the hardworking Musuaku found the net with an unbelievable long-range curling free-kick into the top left corner as Ibrahim Kone looked on haplessly as he wasn’t in range to stop that phenomenal shot. That brilliance killed off the Guineans hopes of making a late comeback as DR Congo coast-on to book their spot in the semi-finals of the competition for the first time since 2015 as they did the famous Congolese Ndombolo dance as the charged fans followed suit.
By: Pascal Amoah
