By Austin Oduor Otieno,

Vincent Aboubakar’s 90^th minute goal ensured giants Cameroon collect maximum points at home from hard fighting Mauritania in an AFCON 2017 qualifying Group M match staged in Yaounde.After a goalless first half, the Indomitable lions seemed headed for a frustrating draw before FC Porto Striker Aboubakar saved the Lions.

Elsewhere, in Niamey, Niger scored in the 39^th minute through a Soulemane Sacko header to hand the hosts three points in Group K over Namibia.

2015 AFCON hosts Equatorial Guinea were held to a 1-1 draw by Benin in Malabo. West Bromwich Albion danger man Stephen Sessegnosn put the Squirrels ahead in the 45^th minute but the hosts   leveled 3 minutes later courtesy of Emilio Nsue.The draw puts Mali top on the group after edging 10 men South Sudan 2-0 in Bamako.

Gor Mahia defender Dikir Glay started his international assignment for his country Liberia on a sour note when they squandered an early Half time lead from William Jebor to go down 2-1 from a double through Tottenham striker Emanuel Adebayor.Togo’s win put them level with Tunisia on same points but lesser on aggregate after Tunisia crushed Djibouti 7-1 in an earlier match.

Congo DR beat island Nation Madagascar 2-1 in Kinshasa to tie level on 3 points with Angola who eased past Central African Republic 4-0.Angola are ahead on goal difference in the group.

The biggest upset however was in Maputo where Rwanda got the better of hosts Mozambique 0-1 despite the hosts struggling to get an equalizer, The Amavubi led by their inspirational captain Yanga’s Haruna Niyonzima and testing Gor Mahi’s left back Abouba Siboumana for the first time had to thank AS Kigali talisman Ernest Sugira for the all important goal that put them joint leaders with Ghana who demolished Mauritius 7-1 at home in a game that Jordan Ayew and Asamoah Gyan both scored a brace.

In Owando in Congo, Prince Oniague’s 34^th minute penalty after Leonard Saleh handled the ball in the box cancelled Paul Were’s clever goal in the 9^th minute to hand visiting Harambee Stars a shock 1-1 draw away at Congo to open group E wide open.

Egypt wrapped up the AFCON 2017 matches with a 3-0 beating of Taifa Stars in Alexandria as Sudan beat Sierra Leone 1-0 in Khartoum. All the Pharaohs goals were scored in quick successions of 61^st, 65^th and 70^th minutes after Tanzania looked to have lost concentration. Sudan however had to fight hard and benefited from a 77th minute Ramadan Alageb penalty.

The other team in the group Ivory Coast was not involved and instead played 2017 hosts Gabon to a goalless draw

The next round of  matches are due in the first week of September

Collins Okinyo

Ex- CAF Media Expert. An expert on African football with over 15 years experience ,always with an ear to the ground with indepth knowledge of the game. I have worked for top publications including 7 years at www.supersport.com until i founded www.soka25east.com to quench the thirst of football lovers across the continent. I have trained young upcoming journalists who are now a voice in African football.I have covered World Cup,AFCON,CHAN,Champions League,Confederations Cup,Cecafa,Cosafa,Wafu and many other football tournaments across the World. Founder Football Africa Arena(FAA),Founder www.afrisportdigital.com