Ivory Coast disappoint in Togo draw
IVORY Coast made a disappointing start to their Africa Cup of Nations title defence yesterday when held 0-0 by lowest Group C seeds Togo in Gabonese town Oyem.
Paris Saint-Germain defender Serge Aurier came close to breaking the deadlock with two minutes remaining, heading a cross narrowly wide.
The result maintained a trend of stalemates in the tournament, with four of the first five matches failing to produce a winner.
Scoring chances were scarce in a first half watched by a small crowd at a 20 000-seat stadium built on the outskirts of Oyem.
The best for the title-holders came after 10 minutes to Jonathan Kodjia, a gangling striker with English second-tier outfit Aston Villa.
Salomon Kalou, a survivor of the 2015 Cup of Nations-winning team, did the spadework by dribbing past several redshirted Togolese before pushing the ball into the box.
Kodjia darted forward with the goal in his sights, but fell as he was poised to shoot and goalkeeper Kossi Agassa blocked the loose ball and averted the danger.
Togo had an opportunity to break the deadlock just before the half-hour mark when a cross from the left wing found the Ivorian defence wanting. But goalkeeper Sylvain Gbohouo spotted the potential danger and darted off his goalline to parry a low shot from veteran midfielder Matthieu Dossevi.
Togo had a chance on 78 minutes as Kodjo Fo-Doh Laba evaded his marker in the goal, but his header flew over.
ý Junior Kabananga scored to give the Democratic Republic of Congo an upset 1-0 win over Morocco to go to the top of the table .