{"id":28033,"date":"2024-02-03T14:22:13","date_gmt":"2024-02-03T14:22:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/all-news\/nigeria-and-dr-congo-win-through-to-afcon-semi-finals"},"modified":"2024-02-03T14:47:13","modified_gmt":"2024-02-03T14:47:13","slug":"nigeria-and-dr-congo-win-through-to-afcon-semi-finals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/all-news\/nigeria-and-dr-congo-win-through-to-afcon-semi-finals","title":{"rendered":"Nigeria and DR Congo win through to AFCON semi-finals"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Sierra-Leone. <\/strong><\/span>A solitary Ademola Lookman goal was enough for Nigeria to beat Angola on Friday and qualify for the Africa Cup of Nations semi-finals, while the Democratic Republic of Congo joined them by coming from behind to defeat Guinea.<\/p>\n

Atalanta forward Lookman, the former England Under-21 international, had scored both goals in Nigeria\u2019s defeat of Cameroon in the last 16 and he made it three in two games as the Super Eagles claimed their third 1-0 victory of the tournament.<\/p>\n

The goal came four minutes before half-time at the Felix Houphouet Boigny Stadium, with Moses Simon collecting a pass on the left, accelerating away from Kialonda Gaspar and driving into the area before cutting the ball back for Lookman to finish.<\/p>\n

That was enough for Nigeria to win through to their 15th Cup of Nations semi-final, which is more appearances than any other country.<\/p>\n

Reigning African footballer of the year Victor Osimhen found the net with a quarter of an hour remaining, but his effort was disallowed for offside, and the Napoli striker is therefore still without a goal since Nigeria\u2019s opening 1-1 draw with Equatorial Guinea.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile Angola had one golden chance to equalise just before the hour mark, when substitute Zini was sent through on goal, but his shot came back off the post.<\/p>\n

Nigeria have now kept four consecutive clean sheets, validating coach Jose Peseiro\u2019s approach which has been based around making sure they do not concede goals first and foremost.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey are a good team, but once again we didn\u2019t concede. Once again, we scored once,\u201d Peseiro said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would have liked to score more. With better finishing we could have scored another one or two goals, but I am happy. My players deserved it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nigeria advance to a last-four tie next Wednesday against Cape Verde or South Africa in the central Ivorian city of Bouake \u2014 those sides meet in the quarter-finals on Saturday.<\/p>\n

Angola, meanwhile, go home but this AFCON will be remembered as a success for the Black Antelopes, after they won a knockout tie at the tournament for the first time ever.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe said among ourselves that if we got to the quarter-finals we would then try to win the tournament. Any team that comes this far has that ambition,\u201d said Angola\u2019s Portuguese coach Pedro Goncalves.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe like to dream, but you also need to be realistic. The reality is that we were up against a very powerful side with players who play at the very highest level.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2013 Masuaku stunner \u2013<\/p>\n

Friday\u2019s second match saw DR Congo see off Guinea 3-1 across Abidjan at the Ebimpe Olympic Stadium.<\/p>\n

Guinea had reached the last eight after winning a Cup of Nations knockout tie for the first time, and they went in front midway through the first half.<\/p>\n

Mohamed Bayo was pushed over in the box and converted the resulting penalty for his third goal of the competition.<\/p>\n

However, Leopards captain Chancel Mbemba produced a fine finish to equalise before the half-hour mark, and the Congolese took the lead with a penalty of their own in the 65th minute.<\/p>\n

Silas Katompa Mvumpa was tripped in the box by Julian Jeanvier, and Yoane Wissa of Brentford made no mistake from the spot.<\/p>\n

DR Congo then clinched their place in a first semi-final since 2015 thanks to a stunning late free-kick by Besiktas full-back Arthur Masuaku from way out on the left flank.<\/p>\n

They had qualified for the knockout phase despite drawing all three matches, and then overcame Egypt on penalties in the last 16.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are extremely happy because we had drawn all our games up to now and we picked a good moment to get a win,\u201d said their French coach Sebastien Desabre.<\/p>\n

DR Congo now stay in Abidjan for a semi-final against either Mali or hosts Ivory Coast, who meet in the last eight on Saturday.<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Sierra-Leone<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Sierra-Leone. A solitary Ademola Lookman goal was enough for Nigeria to beat Angola on Friday and qualify for the Africa Cup of Nations semi-finals, while the Democratic Republic of Congo joined them by coming from behind to defeat Guinea. Atalanta forward Lookman, the former England Under-21 international, had scored both goals in Nigeria\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":28031,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,17],"tags":[291,293,292],"class_list":["post-28033","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-sport","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-sierra-leone","tag-sierra-leone"],"yoast_head":"\nNigeria and DR Congo win through to AFCON semi-finals - Sierra Leone<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A solitary Ademola Lookman goal was enough for Nigeria to beat Angola on Friday and qualify for the Africa Cup of Nation ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/all-news\/nigeria-and-dr-congo-win-through-to-afcon-semi-finals\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Nigeria and DR Congo win through to AFCON semi-finals\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A solitary Ademola Lookman goal was enough for Nigeria to beat Angola on Friday and qualify for the Africa Cup of Nation ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/all-news\/nigeria-and-dr-congo-win-through-to-afcon-semi-finals\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Sierra Leone\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-02-03T14:22:13+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-02-03T14:47:13+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/sites\/16\/2024\/02\/sm_1706958732.629704.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"960\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"540\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/all-news\/nigeria-and-dr-congo-win-through-to-afcon-semi-finals#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/all-news\/nigeria-and-dr-congo-win-through-to-afcon-semi-finals\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Nigeria and DR Congo win through to AFCON semi-finals\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-02-03T14:22:13+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-02-03T14:47:13+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/all-news\/nigeria-and-dr-congo-win-through-to-afcon-semi-finals\"},\"wordCount\":664,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/all-news\/nigeria-and-dr-congo-win-through-to-afcon-semi-finals#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/sites\/16\/2024\/02\/sm_1706958732.629704.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa Press\",\"Africa Press-Sierra-Leone\",\"Sierra-Leone\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"sport\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/all-news\/nigeria-and-dr-congo-win-through-to-afcon-semi-finals#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/all-news\/nigeria-and-dr-congo-win-through-to-afcon-semi-finals\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/all-news\/nigeria-and-dr-congo-win-through-to-afcon-semi-finals\",\"name\":\"Nigeria and DR Congo win through to AFCON semi-finals - 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