LATE GOALS GAVE GABON VICTORY OVER MAURITANIA

Gabon twice fought back from a goal down to defeat Mauritania 4-2 at the Free State Stadium in Bloemfontein on Wednesday night and secure a passage into the CAF African Nations Championship quarterfinals.The Panthers ended top of Group D with seven points and will face Libya in Polokwane on Sunday in the third quarterfinal.Mauritania, newcomers in this continental competition, ended bottom of the pool with three defeats. Gabon have been joined in the last eight by DR Congo, who defeated Burundi at the Peter Mokaba Stadium to finish second in Group D.The match got off to a flying start, with a goal for each side within the opening seven minutes. Mauritania kicked things off with Moulaye Khalil getting in behind the defence before slotting past goalkeeper Parfait Moto to make it 1-0 in the fourth minute.Chan: Mauritania v GabonDuration: 5 min, 0 secHighlights of the Orange African Nations Championship match between Mauritania and Gabon from the Free State Stadium.Just three minutes later Gabon pulled level at 1-1. Edmond Mouelet provided a deep cross to the back post, which was headed home by the unmarked Duval Nzembi. The unfortunate Mouelet was soon forced off due to injury and replaced by Emmanuel Mba.Gabon went on to dominate most of the remainder of the first half and should have scored 10 minutes before the break through Daniel Cousin, who found himself one-on-one with the goalkeeper but only succeeded in hitting the post.On 43 minutes Mauritania had the ball in the back of the net for a second time through Khalil, but his effort was ruled out for offside, leaving the halftime score locked at 1-1.Khalil had the first clear chance of the second half, forcing a fine save from Moto, but it was Gabon who continued to dominate and Aaron Appindangoye almost put them ahead just past the hour mark, only to be brilliantly denied by Babacar Toure.However, against the run of play, Khalil netted a second in the 65th minute to put ‘Les Mourabitones’ ahead. Substitute Ely Voulany provided a great pass as Khalil beat the advancing Moto to the ball and easily found the net for a 2-1 lead.Gabon forced a superb double save from Babacar Toure just a few minutes after going behind, and Duval Nzembi nearly scored a spectacular second in the 74th minute with a shot from the edge of the box that crashed against the crossbar.An equaliser seemed inevitable for the Panthers, though they had to wait until the 85th minute to finally breach Mauritania’s defence for a second time. Samson Mbingui swung in a cross from a corner kick and Aaron Appindangoye powerfully headed home to draw the scores level at 2-2.Substitute Bonaventure Sokambi then became the hero for Gabon in injury time, first beating the ‘keeper to a cross from Mbingui to make it 3-2, before adding a second from the penalty spot a couple of minutes later to finalise the score at 4-2 in a frantic and dramatic end to the match.