A late strike by Thievy Bifouma for Congo denied hosts Equatorial Guinea a win on opening day of AFCON2015 in Beta Stadium.
Emilio Nsue slotted in the first goal of the tournament 16 minutes into the first half, but on closer inspection he appeared to have been in an offside position. Equatorial missed a lot of chances that could have extended their lead. Nsue posed a serious threat, and scored what should have been his second goal of the night before being incorrectly ruled offside.
Equatorial Guinea were made to pay for their missed chances when Thievy Bifouma scored the equalizer for Congo three minutes from time. Thievy punished the host for a sloppy defending to pull the game level.
The host were the better side in the early exchanges and Equatorial Guinea went ahead through Nsue. He was set up by a brilliant individual play from Kike.
Kike went past a defender on the flank with a sweet nutmeg and surged deep into the opponent’s half before finding Nsue with a delightful through-ball which was slotted home.
At the back, Equatorial Guinea was far from convincing. They were lucky enough when Marvin Baudry missed a glorious opportunity to level the game on 27th minute when he headed into the side netting after a goalkeeping error.
From that point, both sides wasted possession and there were only few clear-cut chances in the opening half. Equatorial Guinea’s Iban Edu tried to lob goalkeeper Mafoumbi of Congo from 40 yards out after he spotted the keeper off his line and forced a save from Mafoumbi.
In the second, Edu was fortunate be on the pitch after he caught the face of Gandze with his elbow. The referee seemed to have judged it incorrectly.
If the host were lucky to have gotten away with that, it was time for the luck of Congo to shine. This time a delightful long-range lobbed goal from Nsue was incorrectly ruled for offside when he appeared to be on-side.
Congo substitute Ladislas Douniama came on and almost made an instant impact, but goalkeeper Feilipe Ovono was equal to his effort.
In the final stages of the game, Congo increased the tempo to the game and began mounting pressure. They almost leveled with a N’Ganga crossed set piece struck which connected with a post.
Finally the pressure paid off three minutes from time, when Bifouma finished a pass from Malonga.
It would end in a one-all draw and was a well deserved result for both sides.
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