Congo hold hosts, Equatorial Guinea to 1-1 draw on matchday 1

Hosts Equatorial Guinea were held to a 1-1 draw at by their Matchday 1 opponents, Congo on Saturday.

Nzalang Nacional as they are fondly called were headed to an opening day win with the goal from Emilio Nsue before a late equaliser from Thievy Bifouma which rescued the Red Devils a disappointing loss in Bata.

A superb brilliance from Kike with a perfectly crafted through ball in the 16th minute found Nsue who put a low drive shot past goalkeeper Chris Mafoumbi to put Eq. Guinea 1-0 up.

The goal increased the tempo of the game with the Red Devils controlling play for the rest of the half but were still unable to break the Guinean defence.

Guinea pressed on for a second but each time they tried, they were confronted by a resillient Congolese goalie, Mafoumbi who put in all in between the posts to ensure the game was not far from a comeback.

Congo's goal came from a converted kick from substitute Dominique Malonga's throughball, that faced up in the way of Thievy.

Equatorial Guinea next face Burkina Faso, while Congo will take on Gabon. The second round matches will be played in Bata on January 21.