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Cameroon fought back with two goals in the closing stages to edge Gambia 3-2 in a thrilling encounter at the Africa Cup of Nations finals and advance from Group C after being minutes from elimination.
Defender Christopher Wooh netted a dramatic stoppage-time winner to put the Indomitable Lions second in the group behind Senegal. They finished ahead of Guinea on goals scored while Gambia were eliminated after a third successive loss.
Cameroon had to claw their way back in a game of relentless attack and end-to-end action to keep alive their hopes after falling 2-1 behind with only five minutes left. Wooh headed home a corner in a riveting fightback in the first minute of stoppage time as all five goals came in an action-filled second half.
Gambia had dominated the first-half exchanges despite being 80 places below their much vaunted opponents in the FIFA rankings but Cameroon came out strongly after the break with Georges-Kevin Nkoudou rattling the crossbar in the 50th minute and then setting up the opening goal six minutes later for Karl Toko Ekambi.
The 31-year-old Toko Ekambi was a member of the Cameroon side who won the Cup of Nations in 2017 and showed his experience to get his head to a long through ball.
But a sudden burst of attack from Gambia had the Cameroon defence looking jittery and it was no surprise when Ablie Jallow equalised in the 72nd minute with a clever volley as he ghosted late into the box. Alieu Fadera might have put Gambia ahead soon after but his shot clipped the outside of the post. But they swept into the lead in the 85th minute through substitute Ebrima Colley, who hit a powerful shot after a clever one-two pass with Assan Ceesay.
Cameroon needed to score twice in the remaining time and were level when James Gomez steered the ball into his own net with his outstretched leg as he attempted to clear. Wooh then grabbed the winner in a stunning conclusion to set up a last-16 meeting with Nigeria in Abidjan on Saturday.
Cameroon dropped Andre Onana, after their 3-1 defeat to Senegal in their previous match, putting Fabrice Ondoa back in goal and while he looked far from assured initially he made several key stops to keep Gambia at bay.
Gambia coach Tom Saintfiet quit minutes after his side’s elimination. The 50-year-old Belgian said his contract was running out in August but he would be leaving immediately. Gambia was his 10th job as a national team coach and by far his most successful. He qualified the small west African country for their first Cup of Nations in Cameroon two years ago and then took them on a giant-killing run to the quarter-finals.
They qualified again for the tournament in the Ivory Coast but lost all three Group C matches.
His first national team job was with Namibia in 2008, and he was then coach of Zimbabwe, Ethiopia, Yemen, Malawi, Togo, Bangladesh, Trinidad & Tobago and Malta before Gambia. Saintfiet is the first managerial casualty of this Cup of Nations.
Meanwhile in the same group, Abdoulaye Seck and Iliman Ndiaye scored second-half goals as defending champions Senegal beat Guinea 2-0 in Yamoussoukro on Tuesday to make it three wins from three in Group C, as both teams advanced to the last-16.
In contrast to what we have seen so far in the Ivory Coast, it was a game of few clear-cut chances with neither side overly committed to attack. It was no surprise when Seck’s opener came from a set-piece before Ndiaye provided a neat finish. Senegal top the pool with nine points, followed by Cameroon on four as they edged Guinea on goals scored. The latter will also advance as one of the best third-placed teams.
In Group D, Mauritania served up another shock result at this year’s Afcon finals to dump 2019 winners Algeria out of the tournament with a 1-0 victory and seal a historic place in the last-16 at the Stade de la Paix on Tuesday.
Mauritania celebrate as Algeria are left in despair
(AFP via Getty Images)
Mauritania had never led in any of their previous eight matches at the continental finals, let alone won a game, but a first half goal from Yali Dellahi was enough to send Algeria packing in a second successive embarrassing early exit for coach Djamel Belmadi’s side after a similar failure in 2021.
Angola took top spot in Group D with seven points from three games followed by Burkina Faso (four), who they beat 2-0. Mauritania (three) will be among the four best third-placed sides and earn a knockout spot. Algeria end fourth (two) and look a shadow of the side that lifted the trophy in Egypt in 2019. They dropped captain Riyad Mahrez to the bench against Mauritania but brought him on at halftime in a desperate bid to reverse their fortunes which proved fruitless in the end.
Mauritania took the lead in the 37th minute after a poor clearance from Algeria defender Mohamed Amine Tougai fell to Dellahi in the box and his shot beat goalkeeper Anthony Mandrea and crept in off the post.
It should have been 2-0 when Aboubakary Koita went on a mazy run in the second half and worked space for a shot but his effort was wild and spoiled what would have been one of the goals of the tournament.
Mauritania keeper Babacar Niasse then produced a superb save to keep out Hicham Boudaoui’s bullet header before he managed an even better reflex stop to deny Aissa Mandi from close range.
As Algeria pushed forward in search of an equaliser, they inevitably left gaps at the back and substitute Pape Ibnou Ba should have added a second for Mauritania late on but somehow missed the target from close range. They were instead forced to survive 11 tense minutes of added time before being able to celebrate victory.
Reuters
