Bekele fires Ethiopia past Ivory Coast

by Staff Reporter

Tuesday Nov 19, 2019. 17:25

Ethiopia beat Ivory Coast 2-1 in the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualification Group K match at the Tigray Stadium on Tuesday afternoon.

As a result, the Walia Ibex climbed up to the second spot on the group standings, while the Elephants moved down to third place.

The Elephants got off to the perfect start as they grabbed an early goal through their captain Serge Aurier four minutes into the encounter.

The Tottenham Hotspur full-back beat Ethiopia goalkeeper Abel Mamo to make it 1-0 to Ivory Coast.

However, Ethiopia applied some pressure on the visitors and they managed to restore parity through Surafel Dagnachew to make it 1-1 in the 16th minute.

The Walia Ibex were soon 2-1 up in the 26th minute when Shimelis Bekele beat Ivory Coast’s towering shot-stopper Sylvain Gbohouo.

The visitors tried to level matters before half-time, but Ethiopia stood firm at the back and they were leading 1-0 at the interval.

Ivory Coast pushed for the equalising goal after the restart with Nicolas Pepe looking to use his dribbling skills and pace to unlock the Walia Ibex defence.

However, Ibrahim Kamara’s men were frustrated by the hosts’ defence which was marshalled by Seyoum Tesfaye.

Ultimately, the match ended in a 2-1 victory in favour of Ethiopia, who were able to contain two-time AFCON winners Ivory Coast in the closing stages of the match.

Ethiopia (2) 2 (Dagnachew16′, Bekele 26′)

Ivory Coast (1) 1 (Aurier 4′)

Ethiopia: Mamo, Yusef, Tesfaye, Reshid, Tamene, Dagnachew, Endashew, Bekele, Solomon, Nasser, Giday.

Ivory Coast: Gbohouo, Aurier, Kanon, Traoré, Coulibaly, Fofana, Maïga, Kouamé, Gradel, Pepe, Cornet.