Quick Report: Algeria 3-2 Ivory Coast

(GSM) – Algeria beat Ivory Coast by 2 goals to nothing in a 5 goal thriller that went on for 120 minutes in Cabinda. The Algerians came back from a goal down twice before sealing the victory in the 3rd minute of extra time.

The match started in promising fashion as both teams passed the ball around confidently. The first highlight of the the match came in the fourth minute as Salomon Kalou scored for Ivory Coast.
Kalou popped up on the right, cutting the ball inside to Yaya Toure. Toure tried a shot which bounced off Bougherra back to Kalou who struck the ball into the bottom right of the net.

Didier Drogba had a penalty appeal turned down at 15 minutes after a risky challenge from Halliche. But the Algerians quickly took advantage and leveled the match at the 40th minute after the Elephants’ ultra-defending scheme backfired.

A long ball was sent upfield and flicked on by Bougherra, it dropped to Matmour who spinned away from the challenge of Tiote and hammered a drive in off the left-hand post. The teams went in level at half-time.

The second-half started off in favor of Algeria as the cup favorites seemed jaded.

However, it was Ivory Coast that scored before in the second-half as substitute Abdoulkader Keita scored one minute before full-time. Keita picked the ball up on the right, he cut inside and unleashed a fantastic shot with his left, from 25 yards, into the top left.

Still, Keita’s brilliant goal could not finish the match as a deep cross in from Belhadj connected with Bougherra’s head. The defender struck low into the ground with a header, driving the ball in off the right-hand post.

3 minutes into extra-time, Bouazza got in on the right but the cross was too deep. Ziani kept it in and swung it to the far post before Bouzza scored with a decent header. Afterwards, the Algerians had many chances to finish the game but still could not manage to score.

The match ended in favor of Algeria as they performed, once again, under severe pressure to come back twice before sealing a wonderful win against the cup’s favorites, Ivory Coast, who will be very disappointed to be out from this stage of the competition with the great players in their squad.