Seydou Doumbia rose from
the bench to rescue a 1-1
draw for Cote d'Ivoire
against Guinea, despite
Gervinho's earlier red
card.
Despite Herve Renard's
men boasting a formidable attacking line-up
including Wilfried Bony, Salomon Kalou, Yaya
Toure and Gervinho, Guinea had led through
Mohammed Yattara's first-half strike.
The Lyon striker made the most of sloppy
Ivorian defending to finish and, when Gervinho
was sent off for lashing out at Naby Keita
before the hour, all signs were pointing to a huge
upset in Group D's first fixture.
Guinea's Ibrahima Traore then hit the bar in a
further scare for the Ivory Coast, who have
often flattered to deceive in recent editions of
the AFCON given the huge amount of quality at
their disposal.
However, their class came to the fore as Bony
played in substitute Doumbia to calmly
tuck away the equaliser 18 minutes from time,
although questions will likely still be asked of
Renard following an under-par Ivorian showing.
Chances were few and far between early on as
Guinea were able to snuff out an early opening
created by Gervinho for Yaya Toure.
The Roma forward was among the brightest
sparks for the Ivory Coast in the opening stages
and forced the game's first chance - collecting
the ball on the halfway line and surging forward
before crossing for Bony.
The new Manchester City signing saw his effort
saved by Naby Yattara, with the Guinea
goalkeeper able to tip Gervinho's effort on the
rebound onto the post and away from danger.
Kalou then infuriated Guinea’s defenders with
what they felt was a dive in the area - any half-
hearted penalty appeals swiftly waved away by
referee Mehdi Abid Charef.
However, against the run of play, Guinea took
the lead as Mohamed Yattara made the most of
a loose Serge Aurier clearance nine minutes
before the break.
On the turn, he unleashed a fierce left-footed
strike past Sylvain Gbohouo while his namesake
Naby was required to tip over a long-range Bony
strike early in the second half.
Ivorian skipper Yaya Toure was next to go close
- firing wide from the edge of the area - but
Renard's men appeared lacklustre and were not
allowed to generate any tempo by a busy Guinea
outfit.
And their hopes of getting anything from the
game were dealt a huge blow when Gervinho
saw red card for an off-the-ball incident with
Keita - leaving the pitch visibly upset by his
actions.
However, substitute Doumbia made his case for
assuming Gervinho's place against Mali on
Saturday as he rescued a point with 18 minutes
remaining - making the most of Bony's clever
lay-off to level and avoid what would have been a
real shock.