Congo hold hosts Equatorial Guinea 1-1 in Afcon opening match

Hosts Equatorial Guinea and Congo Brazzaville settled for a 1-1 draw as the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) kicked off in the town of Bata on Saturday.

Skipper Lopez Emilio Nsue who plies his trade for Middlebrough FC in England netted the first goal of the tournament in the 16th minute with a good finish past the advancing Congo goalkeeper Christopher Henri Mafoumbi.

The goal came after some good build-up before Enrique Boula Senobua drilled in a good through pass that Nsue finished off.

Coach Claude Le Roy's Congo side had several chances to pull back a goal, but poor finishing by Babele Sagesse and Tony Marvin Baudry let them down.

On resumption the Congo team were a much hungry side, but the hosts had their defenders stand strong. Equatorial Guinea's goalkeeper Felipe Ovono Ovono made a brilliant save in the 67th minute when he punched out a well taken Fabrice Nguessi Ondama's shot.

In the 74th minute Nsue neatly looped the ball over the advancing Congo goalkeeper, but the goal was canceled for off-side. But Le Roy's team kept pushing forward and Thievy Bifouma Koulossa netted the equalizer to make it 1-1.

The referee from Gambia, Bakary Papa Gassama, booked Congo's Boris Tilton Moubhio Ngounga, Equatorial Guinea's Javier Angel Balboa Osa and goalkeeper Ovono Ovono.

The game was graced by over 30,000 fans including the Equatorial Guinea President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo and Issa Hayatou, the President of the Confederation of African Football. Endi