Guinea and DR Congo reached the quarterfinal at the ongoing 2023 AFCON tournament after beating Equatorial Guinea and Egypt respectively in their round of 16 fixtures on Sunday, www.aclsports.com reports.
Mohamed Bayo’s stoppage-time winner helped Guinea snatch a 1-0 win over Equatorial Guinea in the game played at the Alassane Ouattara Stadium in Ebimpe.
The Guinea derby had a bit of everything with the two teams going all out for it from kick-off. Equatorial Guinea came into the clash after finishing top of Group A ahead of Nigeria and Ivory Coast, while Guinea made it into this round as one of the four best third finishers of the group stages.
With both sides struggling to create clearcut chances, a golden opportunity was presented to Equatorial Guinea – who had earlier lost Frederico Nchama to a red card – just after the hour mark when Ivan Salvador was fouled in the box, only for tournament top scorer Emilio Nsue to send his effort against the upright.
The missed penalty woke Guinea up and they kept pushing for the goal until the final seconds of the game when Ibrahim Diakite’s delightful ball into the area which was cleverly headed into the near post by Bayo to seal Syli National’s place in the quarter-finals for the seventh time in 14 appearances.
Dramatic shootout in San Pedro
In the day’s other fixture, Congo played their hearts out to knock out record AFCON winners Egypt on penalties after a keenly contested affair at the Laurent Pokou Stadium in San Pedro. DR Congo have goalkeeper Lionel Mpasi to thank as his spot-kick sent Les Leopards through to the quarter-finals following a 1-1 draw.
The 1974 champions took the lead on 37 minutes when Meschak Elia nodded his side into a 1-0 lead. Meanwhile, that advantage didn’t last long, with Rui Vitória’s side equalizing before HT. A VAR review led to a harsh penalty being awarded against Dylan Batubinsika for a trailing arm on Hegazy, and Mohamed duly dispatched the spot-kick, his fourth goal in as many games at the tournament.
Not much happened after the break, as ET was required to decide the winner. Seven minutes into the additional 30, the Pharaohs were reduced to 10 men when Mohamed Hamdy picked up his second yellow card for a late tackle on Simon Banza. The Leopards still found it tough to break down a stubborn defence and the tie headed to penalties.
Mohamed, who scored during the game, and Arthur Masuaku traded misses for either side before both teams netted six successive spot-kicks. In sudden death, Goalkeeper Gabaski then smashed against the crossbar for the Pharaohs, leading Mpasi to send his counterpart the wrong way with a calm finish for the winner.
DR Congo and Guinea will now meet in the quarter-final match-up that will be played at Alassane Ouattara Stadium in Ebimpe on Friday night.
