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		</div><p>Sebastien Haller fired hosts Ivory Coast into the final of the Africa Cup of Nations and to within one match of the ultimate redemption after beating DR Congo 1-0.</p>
<p>The Elephants had been on the brink of elimination at the group stage, sacked their manager before being reprieved two days later as the fourth best third-placed finishers.</p>
<p>They then came back from behind to beat Senegal in the last 16 and needed a 90th-minute equaliser and a winner with the last kick of the match to get past Mali in the quarter-final.</p>
<p>Now Haller’s goal has seen them reach the final for a fifth time and if interim boss Emerse Fae, who replaced Jean-Louis Gasset after the humiliating 4-0 loss to Equatorial Guinea, can inspire them to victory over Nigeria on Sunday it will cap surely the most remarkable turn of fortunes in any major international tournament.</p>
<p>DR Congo, winners in 1968 and 1974, posed a potent threat and thought they had scored after nine minutes but Cedric Bakambu had kicked the ball out of the hands of goalkeeper Yahia Fofana before bundling it home.</p>
<figure id="attachment_181454" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-181454" style="width: 300px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img src="https://londonglossy.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/82E180D0-9723-464B-9714-9D6AF6C780CD-300x200.webp" alt="" width="300" height="200" class="size-medium wp-image-181454" /><figcaption id="caption-attachment-181454" class="wp-caption-text">Sebastien Haller hit the crucial goal</figcaption></figure>
<p>Ivory Coast, also two-time winners, created their first opportunity from semi-final hero Simon Adingra, the Brighton winger rising at the far post and heading across goal and wide.</p>
<p>Former West Ham striker Haller then tried an extravagant overhead kick which flew over the top of the Congo goal.</p>
<p>Haller, now with Borussia Dortmund, missed the chance of the first half with a free header in front of goal, eight yards out, from Wilfried Singo’s tempting cross, which he sent horribly wide.</p>
<p>Moments later Franck Kessie’s low drive from the edge of the area clipped the far post to leave the hosts frustrated at half-time.</p>
<p>Congo sent on Theo Bongonda as a half-time substitute and the Spartak Moscow wideman almost had an instant impact with a mazy run into the area, beating three defenders before lashing his shot into the side-netting.</p>
<p>Kessie stung the hands of Congo keeper Lionel Mpasi with a fierce drive with what was Ivory Coast’s first shot on target. It was their second that broke the deadlock in the 64th minute.</p>
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It was unorthodox, and a tad fortunate, Haller hooking Max Gradel’s cross into the ground and watching it bounce and loop over Mpasi into the net.</p>
<p>Incredibly it was the first time Ivory Coast had scored first in a match since the group opener against Guinea Bissau.</p>
<p>Haller should have doubled the lead with an easier chance but sent his lob over Mpasi and wide, but the Elephants held on to book a spot in the final which looked unthinkable a fortnight ago.</p>
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