THE Ivory Coast secured their place in the quarter-finals of the African Cup of Nations with a 2-0 win over Burkina Faso in Group B yesterday. Salomon Kalou gave Ivory Coast the lead after 16 minutes when he fired in a superb right wing cross from Chelsea club-mate Didier Drogba.
An own-goal from Bakary Koné sealed Ivory Coast’s passage through and confirmed Burkina Faso’s elimination from the tournament after two defeats from their opening two matches.
Didier Zokora returned for Ivory Coast after missing the first match through suspension and featured alongside Kalou and Gervinho in a three-pronged attack, while Mahamadou Kere, who missed the defeat to Angola through suspension, was in the Burkina Faso starting line-up.
It was a first-half of few chances, with the only real opportunity producing the Ivory Coast’s opening goal.
Drogba looked as if he was struggling with an injury before picking himself up to deliver a menacing cross from the right. Yaya Toure’s flick helped the ball into the path of Kalou who drilled a left-footed effort past Burkina Faso goalkeeper Daouda Diakité and into the centre of the goal.
Koné was off the pitch receiving treatment for an injury as the goal was scored and Burkina Faso were undermanned in the centre of defence, but it was just reward for Kalou who was a lively presence on the wing for Francis Zahoui’s side.
Burkina Faso struggled to find a cutting edge and Alain Traore’s low shot which was easily saved by Boubacar Barry was as close as they came in the first-half.
Drogba let fly with a long range shot that bounced awkwardly in front of Diakité just before the break, but as Gervinho attempted to convert the rebound the flag went up for offside.
After the break, Drogba produced a beautiful turn in the area and crossed for Gervinho who miss-hit his shot as he continued to display the lack of end product that has blighted his first season at Arsenal.
Ivory Coast goalkeeper Barry was solid throughout the encounter and made a good low save off a well struck shot from Traore.
Burkina Faso were far more of a threat in the second-half, knowing that anything other than a win would see them eliminated.
Jonathan Pitroipa produced some excellent skill in the area before delivering the ball to Traore but Barry was again equal to the Auxerre midfielder’s shot.
Gervinho wasted a golden chance to put Ivory Coast 2-0 up as he blazed over a right-wing cross from Jean-Jacques Gosso.
Kalou then played in Gervinho who attempted to bend the ball into the far corner but could not get enough of an angle on his shot and Diakite was able to push it away, while Kalou soon pulled up with a leg injury and was replaced by Max Gradel.
Moumouni Dagano almost found an equaliser when he headed a deep cross onto the top of the bar but 10 minutes later the match was over as a contest.
Ivory Coast substitute Arthur Boka played a long ball forward and a mix-up between Kone and Mamadou Tall resulted in Kone heading over goalkeeper Diakité and into the net.
Diakité was also guilty of a lack of communication as a strong second-half from his side went unrewarded.
Burkina Faso bow out of the tournament after two defeats in two games and Ivory Coast go through, although both sides must still play their final Group B matches against Sudan and Angola respectively.

ANGOLA HELD
SUDAN twice came from behind to force a 2-2 draw with Angola in an entertaining Group B clash yesterday.
Manucho gave Angola an early lead after he capitalised on a mistake from Najm Eldin, but Mohamed Ahmed Bashir scored a deserved equaliser as Sudan hit the target at an African Cup of Nations finals for the first time since 1976.
Manucho restored Angola’s lead from the penalty spot but Bashir again found the target in the 74th minute after a mistake in the Angola defence.
It means the fate of these teams will be decided in the final round of matches with Angola facing Ivory Coast and Sudan going head-to-head with Burkina Faso.
Angola, who now have four points from two matches, were unchanged from the side that beat Burkina Faso 2-1 in their opening game. For Sudan, goalkeeper Akram El Hadi replaced Mahgoub El Muz, while Muhannad Tahir came in for Amer Kamal in attack.
Manucho got Angola off to a perfect start as he scored after just five minutes. The Valladolid striker caught Eldin dwelling on the ball and drilled a low shot across Akram and inside the far post for his second goal of the tournament.
Sudan reacted well, however and Carlos Fernandes was forced into a smart diving save as he kept out Tahir’s well-struck effort from distance.
For all their possession, Sudan were finding clear cut chances hard to come by until their 33rd minute equaliser. Mudather El Tahir crossed from the right and Bashir got between Marco Airosa and Dani Massunguma to head past Carlos.
Bashir’s historic strike was a reward for their positive first-half performance while at the other end, Porto midfielder Djalma almost caught the Sudan defence napping but his shot was cleared off the line by Eldin after he had rounded Akram.
Angola were guilty of complacency in the first-half but they returned to the field with renewed vigour and quickly won a penalty when Djalma was brought down by Hamid Nizar in the area.
Manucho’s low left-footed effort just eluded Akram as the former Manchester United striker became the tournament’s top scorer with three goals.
Sudan were struggling to find their first-half rhythm but dreadful defending in the 74th minute gifted them their equaliser.
Jose Pierre Vunguidica had barely been on the field two minutes after replacing fellow substitute Nando Rafael when a lack of communication in the Angola defence led to him chesting the ball down in front of Bashir in the area. The Sudan attacker’s finish into the far left corner was emphatic.
Sudan were the more threatening in the final stages and another shot from Bashir was saved unconventionally by the feet of Carlos but neither side could find a winner and their fate will be decided in the final round of matches.