Cote d'Ivoire
defeated Togo
2-1 in the Africa
Cup of Nations on
Tuesday at the
Royal Bafokeng Stadium in
Rustenburg to
momentarily top
Group D ahead of the second match between
Algeria and Tunisia. A nasty defensive blunder in the
Ivorian defence could have
allowed Togo to take the lead
early in the 2nd minute when
Emmanuel Adebayor beat former
team-mate at Manchester City Kolo Toure to a back pass and
found himself facing goalkeeper
Copa Barry, but the striker failed
to finish. The Elephants answered six
minutes later, when Gervinho
meandered through two
defenders from the right flank of
the box and managed to lay
across toYaya Toure, who struck through a forest of legs
into the net to put his side
ahead. Cote d'Ivoire dominated
possession with short and sharp
passing through the first quarter,
but the Sparrow Hawks stood
firm to avoid another goal, with
defender Vincent Bossou taking good care of Didier Drogba. The Ivorians chose to use the
flanks to cut in to the Togo box
when connecting to Drogba
became impossible. Gervinho and
Saint Etienne's Max Gradel, as
well as former Arsenal player Emmanuel Eboue exchanged
positions at the flanks but were
always impressively blocked by
the opposing rearguard. Adebayor had another clear
chance from the left after
outpacing the elder of the two
Toure's, but lacked the right
inspiration to deliver. Gakpe Serge
and Ayite Jonathan were relentless in front of the Ivorian
goal and when the former beat
Ivorian centre back Souleyman
Bamba in a close duel to the
right, he lost his balance, hitting
wide. After the hour mark Gervinho
picked a loose ball, surged down
and drifted deftly into the Togo
box before cutting back to
onrushing Yaya Toure, who
crashed his effort against the crossbar, missing a genuine
chance to score a brace by the
40th minute. Togo were using long balls to
overcome the Ivorian back line,
which finally paid off in the added
time when the Hawks won a free
kick, which was deflected into a
corner from whichAyite lobbed to the side of a sprawling Copa to
grab a leveller for his side just
before the break. The Ivorians began the second
half at a frenetic pace, with
Gervinho and Drogba being set up
a couple of times but finding no
success in front of goal. The Elephants coach Sabri
Lamouchi brought in former
Chelsea winger Salomon Kalou and
Newcastle's Cheick Tiote to
energize his lacklustre side, as
Togo saw a goal disallowed through a corner kick for
executing the kick before the
whistle. With no solution for a winner in
sight, the Ivorian coach pulled out
Drogba for Wilfried Bony of
Vitesse Arnhem. Immediately after,
Gervinho found himself with a ball
and enough space around him to the right edge of the box and
was able to adjust before linking
Yaya Toure to the middle, who
unleashed spontaneously but his
effort was too comfortable for
Agassa Kossi. The game delved into a balanced
structure, with the ball moving
from one end to the other, but
with the Ivorians evincing more
determination for a second goal. A free kick from the right found Gervinho deep in the left side of the box. He was able to stroke
his effort through a tight angle
into the goal with the outside of
his foot, to hand Cote d'Ivoire
the winner two minutes from full
time. Togo then had their last chance
to equalise when Adebayor lobbed
a cross over the Ivorian defence
for Ayite, who squared for Djene,
but Copa intercepted on time
with a great stop. The Elephants become the second
team of the tournament after
Mali to bag three points from
their first match.