The Ivory Coast made it two wins from two with a 3-0 win against Tunisia that should have been over long before Yaya Toure made it official with his 87th minute strike.
Ivory Coast vs. Tunisia: Final score 3-0, Elephants cruise to easy win
The Ivory Coast made it two wins from two with a 3-0 win against Tunisia that should have been over long before Yaya Toure made it official with his 87th minute strike.
Unsurprisingly, the Elephants were well on top from the outset. Poor Moez Ben Cherifa's goal was absolutely peppered starting from kickoff, and the goalkeeper had to save a long-range drive from Romaric before watching Salomon Kalou hit two clear chances just wide then just high in true Kalou style. Cherifa was once again involved to deny Lacina Traore -- but he could do nothing to stop Gervinho's 21st-minute effort.
The Arsenal man won the ball in Tunisia’s penalty area before slipping a quick pass to Traore, whose deft backheel completely wrong-footed the Eagles’ defence and allowed Gervinho a shot from a narrow angle. Cherifa was left helpless as said shot was blasted into the roof of the net for a 1-0 lead.
The Elephants relaxed a little bit after going ahead, but were clearly the better side. Tunisia came close to chances on the counterattack from time to time, but the final ball was never good enough to trouble Boubacar Barry and it looked as though the Ivory Coast would be able to cruise to a win -- if they could find that key second goal.
It should have come in the 56th minute. After a short spell of Eagles pressure, Gervinho found himself clear on the right flank and his cross was eventually smashed home by Kalou only to be ruled out, incorrectly, by the linesman. Instead, the Elephants were made to sweat for half an hour longer, when Yaya Toure took down a ball on the edge of the area and blasted past Cherifa to wrap up the game.
Substitute Ya Konan added some gloss to the scoreline before Youssef Msakni came within inches of adding a consolation in injury time, but the match was over as a contest, leaving the Ivory Coast deserved winners.
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