ABIDJAN — Ivory Coast maintained their unbeaten record in the group stages of the 2014 Fifa World Cup qualifiers when they played to a 1-1 draw against Morocco at the Stade Félix Houphouët-Boigny in Abidjan on Saturday night.
SuperSport
The Elephants went into the match with a five-point lead over the Atlas Lions and already assured of a first-place finish in Group C and a place in the final qualifying hurdle.
The first meeting between the two sides in Marrakech ended in a 2-2 draw and this was always expected to be another tight encounter. Both sides failed to find the back of the net in the first half, but it was the visitors who managed to break the deadlock early in the second half to silence the home crowd.
Granada FC forward Youssef El-Arabi was on the end of a decent counter-attack and managed to get the better of Barry Boubakar.
However, captain Didier Drogba maintained his cool in the 83rd minute to score from the penalty spot, helping his side to avoid an undesired home loss.
Ivory Coast finished on top of the group with 14 points, followed by Morocco with nine, while Tanzania and Gambia complete the group with six and four points, respectively.
