Ivory Coast 4-1 Benin
Ivory Coast underlined their African Nations Cup credentials with a thumping victory over Benin at the Essipong stadium in Sekondi.
Didier Drogba and Yaya Toure scored late in the first half before further strikes from Kader Keita and Aruna Dindane completed a comfortable win.
Razak Omotoyossi grabbed a late consolation for Benin, who made a bright start to the game but struggled to stay the pace.
The three points moved Ivory Coast to the top of Group B and sealed their qualification to the quarter-finals with a game to spur.
Benin made a strong start to the game and created the first real opening when Omotoyossi latched onto a through ball but wasted a glorious chance by firing wide.
The Ivorians responded but Dindane was off target with a close-range header when the goal was at his mercy.
Drogba then had a chance from the edge of the penalty area but shot straight at Rachad Chitou, while his strike partner Salomon Kalou was also wasteful with an effort that flew into the crowd.
Benin then came into their own with a strong period of play that resulted in a powerful, dipping strike from Stephane Sessegnon that Boubacar Barry could only parry.
Shortly after the half hour, Drogba wasted another chance by blazing over from close range before making amends with the opening goal on 39 minutes.
Yaya Toure was the architect with a defence-splitting pass that was latched onto by Drogba, who finished low with his left foot from just inside the penalty area.
Four minutes later the Elephants doubled their lead when Kolo Toure beat two defenders beBenin made a nightmare start to the second half as a blunder by Damien Chrysostome allowed Keita in to grab a third goal on 52 minutes, the Lyon forward dispossessing the defender and slotting coolly beyond Chitou.
And it was 4-0 in the 62nd minute when Drogba’s deft flick from a corner found Dindane, who gleefully nodded home.
And it almost got worse for Benin in the 80th minute.
An error from Chitou on the left side of the penalty allowed Kalou in, but the Chelsea forward’s centre was blazed over the bar by Boubacar Sanogo.
Benin almost reduced the deficit moments later when Oumar Tchomogo was denied by a brilliant save by Barry, while at the other end the Ivorians had another chance when Gervais Yao Kouassi’s low shot was cleared by the feet of Chitou.
Benin finally got their reward for a battling display in injury time, Omotoyossi heading home from close range after Sessegnon’s inviting cross.fore crossing low from the right byline for his brother Yaya to tap home.
Other AFCON fixtures on 25 January
1992 Third Place Play-off: Nigeria 2-1 Cameroon
1996 Group: Liberia 0-1 Zaire
1996 Group: Mozambique 0-2 Ghana
1996 Group: Tunisia 3-1 Ivory Coast
2000 Group: Burkina Faso 1-3 Senegal
2000: Group: Morocco 1-0 Congo-Brazaville
2002 Group: Liberia 2-2 Algeria
2002 Group: Cameroon 1-0 Ivory Coast
2002 Group: Egypt 1-0 Tunisia
2004 Group: DR Congo 1-2 Guinea
2004 Group: Zimbabwe 1-2 Senegal
2004 Group: Cameroon 1-1 Algeria
2006 Group: Angola 0-0 DR Congo
2006 Group: Cameroon 2-0 Togo
2008 Group: Nigeria 0-0 Mali
2010 Quarter-finals: Egypt 3-1 Ivory Coast AET
2010 Quarter-finals: Zambia 0-0 Nigeria AET
(4) Pen (5)
2012 Group: Libya 2-2 Zambia
2012 Group: Equatorial Guinea 2-1 Senegal
2013 Group: Zambia 1-1 Nigeria
2013 Group: Burkina Faso 4-0 Ethiopia
2015 Group: Congo-Brazavillle 2-1 Burkina Faso
2015 Group: Equatorial Guinea 2-0 Gabon
2017 Group: Egypt 1-0 Ghana
2017 Group: Uganda 1-1 Mali
By: George ‘Alan Green’ Mahamah