Karl Toko Ekambi hits double as hosts Cameroon ease into Africa Cup of Nations semi-finals
Gambia 0-2 Cameroon: The Lyon forward inspired a comfortable win for the hosts in Douala despite strike partner Vincent Aboubakar’s wastefulness in the first half
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Karl Toko Ekambi scored a double as hosts Cameroon comfortably beat lowly-ranked Gambia 2-0 in Saturday’s Africa Cup of Nations quarter-final to become the first side to book a place in the last four.
The two goals came in a seven-minute burst in the second half as Cameroon finally converted their superiority into goals in front of an ecstatic crowd at the Japoma Stadium.
Toko Ekambi got his first with a 50th-minute header and then, in the 57th minute, sneaked in behind the Gambian defence to tap home a square pass for the second.
Cameroon will meet the winner of Sunday’s quarter-final between Egypt and Morocco.
The Indomitable Lions completely dominated the encounter against the small west African country who, at 150 in the FIFA rankings, were the lowest-rank team coming into the 24-team tournament.
Gambia, making their debut at the finals, had giant-killing wins over Tunisia and Guinea on their way to the last eight but were almost anonymous on Saturday as they saw little of the ball and spent almost all of the match on the back foot.
Had Cameroon made better use of their opportunities, the scoreline might have been more emphatic.
Aboubakar had three good first-half chances to open the score and add to his tournament goal tally of six.
The first was an attempted backheel and the next two were headers from close range.
He did well to get ahead of youthful defender Joe Gomez but put his first headed effort wide while the second was saved at point-blank range by Baboucar Gaye in Gambia’s goal.
But Toko Ekambi made no mistake when he got his chance from Samuel Oum Gouet’s cross, glancing his header wide of Gaye and into the net.
He then ran off the defence and into space to add a second goal with a tap-in at the back post and now has five goals for the tournament.
Gambia had a little more possession after the second goal but never threatened the Cameroon goal.
Later on Saturday, Burkina Faso take on Tunisia in their quarter-final in Garoua.
On Sunday there is a quarter-final double header in Yaounde where Egypt meet Morocco, followed by Senegal against giant-killers Equatorial Guinea.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments