African Cup of Nations wrap: Drogba brace inspires Ivorians

A Didier Drogba double helped the Ivory Coast to a 6-2 win over Benin in Africa Cup of Nations qualifying on Sunday.

The Chelsea striker scored once in each half in an entertaining clash that also saw Gervinho score twice.

But it was another of Ivory Coast’s forwards – Didier Ya Konan – who opened the scoring after 13 minutes.

The Hannover striker’s goal was followed eight minutes later by Drogba’s first, before Gervinho put the Ivory Coast three goals ahead after half an hour.

Sunderland’s Stephane Sessegnon breathed life into the contest with his 55th-minute goal and when he doubled his account five minutes later, an upset was a possibility.

But when required, Francois Zahoui’s side clicked into first-gear, Drogba, Gervinho and Wilfried Bony all scored in the last 20 minutes to seal Ivory Coast’s fourth win from four in Group 8.

Veteran defender Joseph Yobo secured a 2-2 away draw for Nigeria in Ethiopia with his goal four minutes from time.

Fresh off a 4-1 win over Argentina four days ago, Nigeria opened the scoring courtesy of Kalu Uche on 27 minutes but Saladin Seid netted on the stroke of half-time to level proceedings.

Seid grabbed a second goal just five minutes into the second half and Ethiopia seemed headed for a victory until Yobo’s late intervention.

In other results, Egypt and South Africa played out a goalless draw while Botswana and Malawi also could not find the back of the net as they shared the spoils.

Congo DR (over Mauritius), Zimbabwe (over Mali), Central African Republic (over Tanzania) and Sudan (over Swaziland) all won 2-1 in their fixtures, while Angola and Liberia both triumphed 1-0 against Kenya and the Cape Verde Islands respectively.

Comoros and Libya drew 1-1, while Burundi defeated Rwanda 3-1 thanks to a double from Selemani Saidi.

Tunisia thumped Chad 5-0 while Guinea were comfortable winners against Madagascar 4-1.