MADAGASCAR BEATEN AT HOME

Defender Steve Gohouri again led the charge as Cote d’Ivoire won handsomely in their MTN Africa Cup of Nations qualifier in Madagascar on Sunday to step closer to a place in next year’s finals.
The Borussia Moenchengladbach defender opened the scoring as the Ivorians, captained by Chelsea’s Didier Drogba and with Kolo Toure of Arsenal marshalling the defence, went on to win 3-0 against their hosts in their Group One tie Antananarivo.
Gohouri had scored twice on Wednesday when the Ivorians beat Mauritius 3-0 in a warm-up friendly.
Aruna Dindane and substitute Amara Diane added two second half goals as the Ivorians won their second game in the three-team group despite going into the encounter without several regulars.
Last October, Ivory Coast beat Gabon 5-0 in their first group qualifier and the Elephants now need just one more win to make sure of qualifying for the 2008 MTN Africa Cup of Nations finals in Ghana.
They were runners up at the 2006 MTN Africa Cup of Nations tournament hosted by Egypt.