adminYaounde – A new Cameroon team continued a great start to 2015 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying by thrashing star-stacked Ivory Coast 4-1 in Yaounde on Wednesday. Clinton N’Jie and Vincent Aboubakar scored twice each for the Indomitable Lions with reigning African Footballer of the Year Yaya Toure on target for the Elephants.
Cameroon opened their Group D campaign with a 2-0 victory in the Democratic Republic of Congo last Saturday and have a three-point lead after two matchdays.
The Congolese bounced back to overcome Sierra Leone 2-0 in Lubumbashi in another early kick-off and share second place with the Ivorians on three points.
Sierra Leone, forced to play a home fixture in DR Congo because of the Ebola crisis in west Africa, are pointless having lost in Ivory Coast four days ago.
Germany-born Cameroon coach Volker Finke recently axed 13 of the World Cup squad that fared disastrously in Brazil three months ago, including talisman Samuel Eto’o.
Record four-time African Footballer of the Year Eto’o retired from international football a week later, and young stars like N’Jie and Aboubakar have taken up the mantle.
They have scored three goals each in two qualifiers and both came close to hat-tricks against an Ivorian side lucky to escape with only a three-goal defeat at Stade Ahmadou Ahidjo.
Cameroon had a goal disallowed, struck the woodwork and came close several other times in a display reminiscent of the great Lions teams that won the African title four times.
A deflection off a defender helped N’Jie put Cameroon ahead on 15 minutes only for Toure to level 10 minutes later when he slid in to convert a cross.
Aboubakar intercepted a headed back-pass for fire past veteran goalkeeper Boubacar Barry and give the home team a 2-1 half-time lead.
A loose ball was hammered home by Aboubakar on 54 minutes and he set up N’Jie to score with an unstoppable close-range shot 14 minutes from time.
Atusaye Nyondo bagged a brace as Malawi edged Ethiopia 3-2 in a Blantyre battle of Group B teams who lost their opening matches to Mali and Algeria respectively. — Sport 24
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