Serge Aurier scores hilarious long-range own-goal for Ivory Coast before Eric Bailly stinker
Serge Aurier had a day to forget as he opened the scoring for Zambia, despite playing for Ivory Coast.
The Nottingham Forest and former Tottenham full-back’s last ditch interception from outside the area incredibly went up and over his own goalkeeper.
It was the first goal of the match in a 3-0 defeat for Ivory Coast, with Kings Kangwa and Leicester’s Patson Daka scoring the other goals for Zambia.
A clever through-ball from Emmanuel Banda on its way to Rangers’ Fashion Sakala but Aurier got their first.
So forceful was his interception that a spinning clearance fooled goalkeeper Charles Folley who fumbled the ball into his own net.
Manchester United’s Eric Bailly arguably as big a shocker for Daka’s goal, possessing a good five yards on the striker from a long ball, but eventually he was tackled in the area with Daka prodding home.
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The win saw Avram Grant’s Zambia leapfrog their opponents and move to the top of Group H in qualifying for the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations.
Despite its name, the 34th edition of AFCON will take place in 2024 from January 13 to February 11.
That means it will overlap with the European club season, something which organisers tried to avoid by scheduling it for this summer.
However, rain in host country Ivory Coast made a June and July tournament impossible, with the dates changed a year ago.
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Speaking at the time, Confederation of African Football (CAF) president Patrice Motsepe said: "We cannot take the risk.
"January is not the ideal time because of the European clubs, but it is the only choice we have.”