Ivory Coast’s meeting with Ethiopia abandoned with 10 minutes to play

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Concerning scenes late in the Ivory Coast’s latest AFCON qualifying outing this afternoon eventually resulted in the clash being brought to a close with a little over 80 minutes on the clock.

Kessie amongst goalscorers

Patrice Beaumelle’s men were back in action a short time ago, in a meeting with Ethiopia.

The Elephants headed into proceedings with their tails up, aiming to ensure their spot atop the Group K table on the back of a comfortable win over Niger late last week.

And, when all was said and done at the Stade olympique d’Ebimpé this afternoon, the Ivory Coast again emerged as dominant victors.

The hosts raced out to a 2-0 lead inside 20 minutes, courtesy of Wolves stopper Willy Boly’s first goal at international level, and a Franck Kessie spot-kick.

Ethiopia, to their credit, did manage to pull one back through Getaneh Kebede 15 minutes from time, but Jean Kouassi’s finish just minutes later killed off any remaining hope of a comeback on the part of the visitors.

Ref stretchered off

As outlined above, however, it was not the eventual scoreline in Abidjan which proved to be the matchup’s main talking point.

This instead arrived with a little over 80 minutes on the clock.

Amid altogether concerning scenes, the official in charge of proceedings, out of the blue, collapsed onto the Stade d’Ebimpé turf.

Players and medical staff alike quickly rushed to the referee’s aid, as football took a back seat to genuine worry over his wellbeing.

In turn, the ref was carried from the field of play on a stretcher, with the fourth official in attendance, after deciding that he was not capable of taking over, having opted to abandon the clash with 10 minutes to play.

The Ivory Coast’s victory is expected to stand, with Madagascar’s failure to beat Niger meaning that Ethiopia will join the Elephants at next year’s AFCON.

 

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