Gervinho sees red as Ivory Coast draw with Guinea

http://www.theguardian.com/football/2015/jan/20/ivory-coast-guinea-africa-cup-nations-match-report

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Ivory Coast had to settle for a point in their opening Africa Cup of Nations group D match when they drew 1-1 with Guinea after having Gervinho sent off.

They were one down at that point and were indebted to Manchester City’s new signing, Wilfried Bony, for providing a deft assist that released Seydou Doumbia for the equaliser in the 72nd-minute.

Ivory Coast had the Premier League’s Bony, Yaya Touré, Kolo Touré and Cheick Tioté in their starting line-up and were expected to claim a comfortable victory against Guinea.

However, they fell behind in the 36th minute thanks to Mohamed Yattara’s volley from the left-hand side of the area which caught their defence off guard.

Gervinho was sent off for hitting the midfielder Naby Keïta in the face in the 58th minute. The Ivory Coast striker fell to the ground and hit the floor in disbelief after being shown a straight red card which left his side with an even tougher task to overturn Guinea’s lead.

Until that point, Gervinho had been Ivory Coast’s biggest threat thanks to his pace. He put Guinea under pressure early on when he raced down the left on the counter-attack and pulled the ball inside. It was played back to him in a one-two but his shot struck the crossbar and was cleared by the defence.

The former Arsenal striker went close again from inside the six-yard box shortly after only to be shut down by the goalkeeper Naby-Moussa Yattara. Gervinho was again on hand to receive the ball in a dangerous area in the 34th minute but the goalkeeper got down to make an excellent save from close range.