2015 Afcon qualifying round-up

Niger, Burkina Faso, Gabon, Algeria, Cameroon, Senegal, Guinea open with wins while Zambia are held

Goal.com follows the actions as they happen in the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying group stage that began on Friday and will continue until Saturday

Niger 1-3 Cape Verde Cape Verde are topping Group F with three points after crushing Niger in away fixture at the General Seyni Kountche Stadium in Niamey on Saturday.

The Blue Sharks outplayed the Mena in the early exchanges and quickly opened the scoring through Garry Mendes Rodrigues after nine minutes.

Odair Fordes and Ze Luis powered the visitors’ lead to three goals in the 16th and 24th minutes respectively and could have claimed more goals but the Niger defence was prompt enough to avoid more havoc.

The Mena star player and captain Moussa Maazou’s 34th goal was all Niger could offer the thousands of local fans who left the facility highly disappointed.

Burkina Faso 2-0 Lesotho The 2013 Africa Cup of Nations finalists Burkina Faso opened their qualifying campaign for the next edition with a 2-0 home victory over Lesotho at the August 4 Stadium in Ouagadougou on Saturday.

Jonathan Pitroipa handed the Stallions the lead after 10 minutes while Alain Traore struck the double in the 49th minute as the hosts conserved the advantage until the final whistle.

Burkina Faso will play Angola next while Lesotho will host Gabon.

Gabon 1-0 Angola After a nerve-racking confrontation at the Angondje Stadium in Libreville between hosts Gabon and Angola in Group C’s second match of the day, the Panthers eventually conserved their lone-goal lead scored by MC Alger midfielder Samson Mbingui in the 45th minute.

Gabon now settle on second position in the group with three points ahead of their trip to Lesotho next weekend in the second match day.

Zambia 0-0 Mozambique In Group F opener, 2012 Africa Cup of Nations winners Zambia were held at home to a goalless draw by Mozambique on Saturday at the Levy Mwanawasa Stadium in Ndola.

The Chipolopolo failed to exploit the countless goal chances they created for themselves before the Mambas, who successfully barred all the strikes from the opposing side and kept the score line blank until the final whistle to share the spoils with the group’s favourite.

Mozambique will play host to Niger, as Zambia travel to West Africa to face islanders Cape Verde in the second match day set for next weekend.

Ethiopia 1-2 Algeria Africa’s number team on Fifa ranking Algeria scrambled a 2-1 away victory over Ethiopia at the Addis Ababa Stadium on Saturday in Group B first match.

The Walias were on top of proceedings during much of the first half but botched up most of their efforts at goalmouth, while the Fennec Foxes, with a more technical and physical presence, opted for the flanks to launch their counters, thanks to a bunch of pacy wingers.

By the 35th minute, a left long cross powered by El Arbi Soudani in Ethiopia area was deflected into own net by midfielder Asrat Megersa, putting the visitors ahead.

Ethiopia maintained their push thereafter and upon their return from the break but Algeria would sting once more through Porto’s attacking midfielder Yacine Brahimi in the 84th minute. And when it all looked a 2-0 success for the North Africans, Ethiopia scored deep in stoppage time from the spot kick by star player Saladin Said of Egyptian giants Al Ahly.

Ethiopia will face Malawi next while Algeria will host Mali in the second match day.

DR Congo 0-2 Cameroon Cameroon stunned neighbours and archrivals DR Congo 2-0 in away fixture at the TP Mazembe Stadium in Lubumbashi on Saturday in Group D’s opener of the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying group stage.

The Leopards quickly took control of matters by imposing domination before thousands of local fans but the Indomitable Lions had more chances on target, with 21-year-old striker Clinton N’Jie of French Ligue 1 side Lyon opening the scoring in added time of first half.

DR Congo toiled across the second half in search of an equaliser, holding and controlling possession but Cameroon goalkeeper Fabrice Ondoa of Barcelona B stood firm and made sure their lead remained unscathed, even when the visitors cowered in their back half.

Cameroon struck a second following a brisk counterattack set off by Choupo-Moting and concluded by FC Porto forward Vincent Aboubakar in the 81st minute to seal a crucial win for the Lions who will host Cote D’Ivoire next week in the second match day.

Senegal 2-0 Egypt The Leopold Sedar Senghor Stadium in Dakar was hosting its first match in more than a year when it was shut down due to a ban from Caf following match incidents in 2012.

Thousands of local fans were in attendance to push Senegal over Egypt in Group G opener, which eventually went in favour of the host team in a 2-0 outcome.

By the 17th minute, Mame Biram Diouf was set up behind two Egyptian defenders, who were unable to stop the Stoke City forward’s final effort that blew past goalkeeper Sherif Ekramy.

A similar action brought the second goal for Senegal when Dame Ndoye of Lokomotiv Moscow laid a defence-splitting pass for Southampton new recruit Sadio Mane, who finished with a remarkable aplomb to seal his side’s 2-0 win over the Pharaohs, who failed to live up to expectation across much of the meeting.

Egypt will take on Tunisia next while Senegal will face off against Botswana in the second match day of the qualifying campaign.

Guinea 2-1 Togo The Syli National humbled the Sparrow Hawks 2-1 at the Mohamed V Stadium in Casablanca on Friday in Group E first match in the 2015 Afcon qualifying.

Guinea were forced to play their first home match of competition in Morocco due to the outbreak of the Ebola disease, but eventually shrugged off the Togolese challenge despite an impressive input from Tottenham striker Emmanuel Adebayor.

Syli took the lead after 10 minutes through a penalty transformed by Saidouba Soumah of Slovan Bratislava following a rough tackle on Naby Keita.

They were able to conserve the lone-goal advantage until added time of the first half thanks to a compact midfield that kept cutting off ball distributions from the Hawks, with their goalkeeper Kossi Agassa’s countless blunders spurring the Guinean attacking line into more action.

Zulte-Waregem striker Idrissa Sylla doubled the lead for Guinea seconds before the break but his side would suffer severe domination at the hands of Togo in second half, with Adebayor leading the onslaught.

Goalkeeper Naby Yattara singlehandedly thwarted efforts from the Togolese to come level until the 60th minute when Jonathan Ayite found a breach to pull one back. However, more pushy attempts to snatch the equaliser went futile even when Guinea went one man down following the expulsion of Toulouse defender Issiaga Sylla after bagging a second yellow card.

Togo will play host to Ghana in the second match day next weekend while Guinea will travel to face Uganda.