Gradel gives Ivory Coast victory against Equatorial Guinea
Group E
Equatorial Guinea 0-1 Ivory Coast
Ivory Coast captain Max Gradel scored a spectacular winner as the Elephants narrowly beat Equatorial Guinea 1-0 in their Africa Cup of Nations opener.
Ex-Bournemouth and Leeds forward Gradel lashed the two-time champions ahead from 20 yards with the outside of his right foot just five minutes in.
Equatorial Guinea had chances to level but Iban Salvador sliced their best opening horribly wide from seven yards.
Badra Ali Sangare later saved from Emilio Nsue as Ivory Coast held out.
Patrice Beaumelle’s side go top of Group E after defending champions Algeria drew with Sierra Leone on Tuesday.
Equatorial Guinea were unhappy with Gradel’s opener in Douala, appealing for a foul on Jose Machin in the build-up, but referee Redouane Jiyed confirmed the goal would stand after consulting his pitchside monitor.
Ibrahim Sangare sent an unmarked header over as Ivory Coast threatened to doubled their lead but the Equatoguineans, who have qualified for the tournament by right for the first time in their history with their two previous appearances courtesy of being a home nation, grew in stature.
A Basilio Ndong shot was thwarted by Elephants keeper Badra – standing in for first choice stopper Sylvain Gbohouo, banned on the eve of the tournament for an alleged doping violation – while Machin’s sweetly-struck volley from 25 yards flew just wide.
They were left, however, to rue the costly miss from Edu in the second half and Nicolas Pepe could have settled it, only for Equatorial Guinea keeper Manuel Sapunga Mbara to thwart the Arsenal forward with a fine fingertip save.
Substitute Wilfried Zaha also steered wastefully wide late on but it was far from a statement performance from Ivory Coast, who last won the trophy in 2015, against a side ranked 58 places below them.
With the first round of fixtures complete across the six groups, 10 of the 12 games so far have been decided by a single goal – with the other two finishing goalless.
This was the ninth of those 12 games to finish 1-0 as well as being the third of Wednesday’s three fixtures to end that way after Mali’s controversial victory over Tunisia and The Gambia’s triumph over Mauritania.
Ivory Coast face Sierra Leone in their second game on Sunday at 16:00 GMT, while Equatorial Guinea take on Algeria later that evening (19:00 GMT).
