Nigeria/Congo-Kinshasa: DR Congo Thrash Guinea 3-1 to Reach Afcon Semi-Final

Former West Ham United defender Arthur Masuaku scored a vital goal as the Democratic Republic of Congo defeated Guinea 3-1 on Friday to reach the Africa Cup of Nations semi-finals.

Masuaku netted direct from a free-kick on 82 minutes to give his country a two-goal advantage in the quarter-final and they will face hosts Ivory Coast or Mali for a place in the title decider.

Mohamed Bayo gave Guinea a 20th-minute lead from a penalty which was cancelled by DR Congo captain Chancel Mbemba soon after in Abidjan.

Brentford forward Yoane Wissa put the Congolese ahead on 65 minutes from the second penalty of the match, then Masuaku effectively decided the outcome.

History suggested that the first AFCON tournament meeting between the countries in 20 years would be close as three previous matches produced a 2-1 win for each and a 2-2 draw.

The Congolese Leopards reached the last eight without winning a match. They finished runners-up to Morocco in Group F after three draws before edging seven-time champions Egypt via penalties.

Guinea qualified as the best of the four third-placed qualifiers, then Bayo scored the second latest regular-time goal so far to eliminate Equatorial Guinea.

Both coaches made one change from the last-16 starting line-ups with DR Congo promoting centre-back Henock Inonga and Guinea upgrading former Liverpool midfielder Naby Keita.

Serhou Guirassy, scorer of 17 Bundesliga goals this season for Stuttgart, once again started on the bench for the Guinean National Elephants.

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