Africa Cup of Nations: Dala Gelson scores brace as 10-man Angola beat Namibia to reach quarter-finals

Angola overcame Namibia 3-0 in a drama-filled match as they cruised into the Africa Cup of Nations quarter-finals and recorded their biggest victory in the tournament.

Both teams saw players sent off in the first half as Angola goalkeeper Neblu saw red early on and Namibia defender Lubeni Haukongo was given a second booking before the break.

Dala Gelson scored a first-half brace and Mabululu put the icing on the cake after the hour mark to send Angola into the last eight for the first time in 14 years.

Despite the emphatic victory in the end, it was a nightmare start for Angola who were quickly reduced to 10 men when goalkeeper Neblu was given his marching orders after 17 minutes.

Bethuel Muzeu burst through on goal and tried to chip the onrushing Neblu, who had come well off his line before palming Muzeu’s effort away from a foot outside of his box.

Namibia could not take advantage of the free-kick, as substitute goalkeeper Signori Antonio reacted brilliantly to beat Deon Hotto’s effort away.

As the game approached half-time, the deadlock was broken by Angola when Gelson tapped into an empty net.

Fredy started the move when he charged through the midfield before laying the ball to Gilberto on the right, and he returned the favour by slipping a pass into the box for Fredy to cut back to Gelson, who could not miss from inside the six-yard box.

Despite only being one goal down and having the man advantage, things got a whole lot worse for Collin Benjamin’s side as their AFCON dreams came crashing down in a flash.

Minutes before the break, the game became 10 against 10 when Haukongo was sent off after a second yellow card.

Angola’s Mabululu ran onto a ball over the top and looked for a path to goal when he was hauled down by Haukongo, who was cautioned for handball earlier in the game.

Straight from the free-kick, Fredy lumped the ball into the box and Gelson powerfully headed his second goal of the match beyond Lloyd Kazapua, giving Namibia a mountain to climb.

Mabululu almost scored an emphatic third in the second half when the ball dropped to him in the box with his back to goal, swivelling on the spot before sending a volley narrowly wide of the target.

Namibia thought they had got away with one, but minutes later Mabululu had his goal and Angola’s third when he finished a rapid end-to-end move excellently.

Captain Zito Luvumbo played an inch-perfect long pass down the right flank to Gelson, who threaded the ball to the on-running Mabululu as the forward made no mistake with his finish, taking a touch before curling the ball across the face of goal and into the far corner.

Angola held on for the victory and will face either Nigeria or Cameroon in the quarter-finals.

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