Junior Kalonji of DR Congo gets away from Bebou Ihlas of Togo during the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations Finals football match between Togo and DR Congo at the Port Gentil Stadium in Gabon on 24 January 2017 ©Chris Ricco/BackpagePix
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BackPageTXT
Tuesday Jan 24, 2017. 23:04
Democratic Republic of Congo beat Togo 3-1 in the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) game played at the Stade de Port-Gentil in the Gabonese city of Port-Gentil on Tuesday night.
The win sees DR Congo topping Group C and qualifying for the quarter-finals, while Togo exit the tournament after finishing fourth on the group.
The Sparrow Hawks enjoyed some ball possession in the opening stages of the game, but Emmanuel Adebayor and his team-mates were struggling to penetrate the Leopards defence.
But as the game progressed DR Congo took control of the game and they broke the deadlock in the 29th minute when Junior Kabananga scored with a left-footed shot to make it 1-0 to the Leopards.
Florent Ibenge's men had more chances to extend their lead towards the half-time break, but they were unable to convert them, and the score was 1-0 at the interval.
An action-packed second-half followed as Firmino Mubele made it 2-0 to DR Congo with a footed shot from the centre of the box in the 54th minute.
Second-half substitute Kodjo Fo-Doh Laba gave Togo some hope in the 69th minute when he fired past DR Congo goalkeeper Ley Matampi to make it 1-2.
But Paul-Jose M'Poku had other ideas as he fired home from a free-kick in the 80th minute and DR Congo held on to win 3-1 on the night.
DR Congo (0) 1 (Laba 69')
Togo (1) 3 (Kabananga 29', Mubele 54', M'Poku 80')
DR Congo XI: Matampi; Issama, Tisserand, Lomalisa, Kabananga (Bokila 83'), Mulumbu, Kebano (M'Poku 60'), Bope, Mbemba, Bolingi, Mubele (Botaka 67').
Togo XI: Tchagouni (Mensah 23'); Akakpo, Ouro-Akoriko, Djene, Dossevi (Laba 67'), Atakora, Bebou, Ayite, Boukari (Romao 79'), Gakpe, Adebayor.
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