Goals from Carof Bakoua and Georges Bidimbou helped Congo secure a 2-0 win over Burkina Faso at the 2018 African Nations Championship (Chan) on Saturday night.
The victory for Coach Barthelemy Ngatsono’s men sees them sitting at No 1 with six points from two wins in Group D, and duly books their place in the knockout stages of the competition.
Congo headed into this encounter chasing their second win in two games and were rightfully motivated from the start of the encounter.
However it was Malo Traore’s side who had chances to grab the lead early on, but they were not clinical in the final third as they fired blanks.
With few and far opportunities in the opening half, it was no surprise that it was 0-0 at the interval.
The Red Devils were on top of their game in the second half as they added numbers in the Stallions’ box, but could not break their solid defence.
Congolese goalkeeper Mouko showed his class to stop Burkina Faso in the 57th minute as he rushed off his line to deny Romeo Boni from close range.
Moments later, Bakoua would find the back of the net when he brilliantly tapped in a cross from the right flank to hand Congo the lead in the 67th minute.
With seven minutes left, Burkina Faso substitute Moise Zongo wasted a glorious opportunity from a set-piece when he could only succeed in guiding his effort straight into the stands.
In injury time, Bidimbou made it 2-0 when he came off the bench to head home, subsequently cementing Congo’s spot in the quarterfinals of the competition.
On the other hand, the loss for the Stallions sees them sitting at No 3 in the group with one point from one draw and a loss after two fixtures.
Line-ups:
Congo: Mouko, Kibamba, Bakoua, Bissiki, Batamba/40’ Mboungou, Ngouala/90’ Ngoma, Mouzita, Ngombe/90’ Bidimbou, Gandze, Rozan, Lakolo
Burkina Faso: Sawadogo, Beao, Ouattara, Boni/90’ Bambara, Sylla, Guiro, Sory, Sanou, Gouo, Barro/78’ Zongo, Kompaore/69’ Abem
Watch highlights below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=11Jix7Bz1Xs
