GOAL.com
The continent continues its journey towards the 2013 competition in South Africa with a double-header to decide the 16 teams that will be fighting for the title
By Peter Pedroncelli
Caf
Zimbabwe 3-1 Angola
The Warriors of Zimbabwe welcomed their southern African counterparts Angola to Harare, for the first leg of the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier tie.
Angola, under new coach Gustavo Ferrin, would have been hoping to keep their opponent attackers at bay, but they did not help themselves when an own goal from Bastos in the first half to hand the home side the lead.
Zimbabwe continued to pile on pressure at the Rufaro Stadium and they soon celebrated their second goal through Khama Billiat, as the Ajax Cape Town striker found the back of the net. It was not the end for Angola, who were becoming increasingly frustrated, as Archford Gutu made it 3-0 before half time.
A few minutes after the restart Djalma was able to find a chance on goal and made the most of it, scoring what would prove to be Angola’s consolation goal.
The final score was 3-1 to Zimbabwe over Angola, and the Warriors will now be confident ahead of the second leg against the Palancas Negras in Luanda next month.
Mozambique 2-0 Morocco
The Atlas Lions knew that they would be in for a tough first leg away to the Mambas, and Mozambique did indeed put up a brave fight in Maputo.
Both sides knew that the second leg in October would be the decisive result, but a positive scoreline in this encounter was a must. The game remained goalless until half time.
The Moroccans played a more defensive game than one would be used to seeing from the north Africans, and they were made to pay in the second half, when Almiro Lobo scored to put Mozambique in front.
Mozambique’s Mambas had a wonderful second half, and they topped it off in emphatic fashion, scoring in the dying minutes of the match through Elias Pelembe of Sundowns in South Africa, making the final score 2-0 and leaving Morocco with it all to do in the second leg if they are aiming to reach the 2013 Afcon.
DR Congo 4-0 Equatorial Guinea
The match between hosts DR Congo and Equatorial Guinea provided a one-sided affair that showed dominance by the home side.
The home side were able to put a great deal of pressure on the visitors, but the 2012 Afcon co-hosts were impressive in defence, making sure that they held strong against their opponents’ attacks. At half time the score was still goalless.
The match in Kinshasa soon came alive, however, as the hosts went in front thanks to a goal from Dieumerci Mbokani, before Deo Kanda added a second a few minutes later.
Ten minutes passed before DR Congo extended their lead to three goals with Mbokani’s second of the match, and finally a rampant Mbokani completed his hat-trick.
The 4-0 scoreline will be difficult for Equatorial Guinea to overturn in October, but they will have 90 minutes to do all that they possibly can to be in South Africa come January 2013.
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