Ivory Coast share spoils with Guinea

The 10 men of Ivory Coast have fought back to claim a 1-1 draw with Guinea in their opening fixture at the Africa Cup of Nations.

Following a cagey opening, the first proper chance of the game arrived on 18 minutes when Gervinho's effort was tipped onto the crossbar by goalkeeper Naby Yattara.

The striker was causing problems for Guinea again moments later, but he was foiled once more by another smart stop from Yattara.

The Ivorians were made to pay for those squandered opportunities on 36 minutes as Mohamed Yattara put Guinea in front with a powerful finish inside the box after Serge Aurier had failed to clear his lines.

Ivory Coast started the second half positively before their cause was hindered by a red card for Gervinho, who was dismissed for an off-the-ball incident.

The forward appeared to push an opposition player to the ground, giving the referee no option but to send him off.

Down to 10 men, Ivory Coast almost found themselves two goals down on the hour when Ibrahima Traore curled the ball onto the crossbar following a run into the penalty area.

However, their equaliser came with 19 minutes left as Seydou Doumbia found the bottom corner after good work from Manchester City teammates Yaya Toure and Wilfried Bony.

Having got themselves back in the match, Ivory Coast's hard work almost came undone inside the final 10 minutes, only for Kevin Constant's deflected free kick to spin inches wide of the post.