Gervinho saves face for Ivory Coast with a late win over Togo as Tunisia also lives it late to secure a 1-0 win over Algeria.
The Elephants of Ivory Coast pulled off a late win over the Sparrow Hawks of Togo on Tuesday in the first match of Group D at the Royal Bafokeng Stadium in Rustenburg.
The Elephants open the score sheet on the 8th minute, when Gervinho meandered through two defenders of Togo from the right flank of the box and managed to lay across to Yaya Toure, who struck through a forest of legs into the net to put his side ahead.
However, the Sparrow Hawks restored parity before the break through Jonathan Ayite who swept home a sprawling Corner kick from the right to grab the leveler for Togo.
Just as it seemed the game would end in the sixth draw of the tournament, Gervinho ghosted in at the far post to meet Yaya Toure’s excellent free-kick and produce a clinical finish for the Ivorians.
The second match of the group also nearly ended in a goal-less but Tunisia grabbed the match winner in time added on to pick all the 3 points at stake.
The Carthage Eagles join Ivory Coast and Mali as the only teams to have won their first matches of the group stages which analysts say is unprecedented in the history of the tournament.
The second group of the matches will start today in group A at the Soccer City Stadium in Soweto with the host South Africa taking on the Palancas Negras of Angola and tournament debutants Cape Verde Islands facing Morocco.
Ivory Coast 2 Togo 1 match video
[media id=800 width=610 height=340]RESULTS (22/01/2013) IVORY COAST: 2 TOGO: 1, TUNISIA: 1 ALGERIA: 0
FIXTURES (23/01/2013) SOUTH AFRICA VS ANGOLA CAPE VERDE ISLANDS VS MOROCCO
Issaka Adams / NationalTurk Sports News
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