Elephants stomp on Sierra Leone to stay unbeaten
Former AC Milan defender Franck Kessie missed a penalty but scored twice as Cote d'Ivoire put Sierra Leone to the sword to win their Africa Cup of Nations Group G qualifier 4-1 and stay top of the standings.
Nicolas Pepe had put the Elephants ahead early, sliding home a cool finish in just the third minute of the match.
Kessie had the chance to double the lead from the spot 10 minutes before the break, but crashed his effort against the crossbar, and the home fans were silenced on 43 minutes when Sierra Leone equalised through Alhassan Koroma to go in level at half-time.
But the interval worked wonders for the hosts, who came out firing in the second period.
Kessie made up for his penalty miss with a looping header in the 51st minute that dropped into the goal to make it 2-1, and he redeemed himself further when he buried a second penalty on 76 minutes.
The hosts were awarded a third penalty three minutes from time after a handball in the box, but captain Kessie gave up the opportunity of a hat-trick, instead passing the ball to Reims youngster Oumar Diakite, who blasted the ball into the back of the net to complete a comfortable win.
Defending Africa Cup of Nations champion Cote d'Ivoire remains unbeaten in Group G, and sits top with three wins from three matches, while Sierra Leone stays bottom of the pile, still searching for its first win in qualifying.
