Ivory Coast became the first team to reach the African Cup of Nations quarterfinals on Saturday, beating Tunisia 3-0 despite captain Didier Drogba being stuck on the bench for most of the match.
Gervinho opened the scoring after a one-two combination with Lacina Traore in the 21st minute, Yaya Toure doubled the lead with a powerful shot in the 87th and substitute Didier Ya Konan sealed the victory from inside the area in the 90th.
Drogba, who had a lackluster performance in the team's opener, came on in the 67th but created few opportunities.
The win was enough to secure the Elephants a spot in the quarterfinals after Togo beat Algeria 2-0 hours later. The Elephants have six points in Group D, while Togo and Tunisia have three each. Emmanuel Adebayor's Togo has the tiebreaker advantage and will play the final match against Tunisia needing a draw to advance.
Ivory Coast will close against Algeria.
Drogba, the biggest star entering the tournament, was surprisingly absent in the Ivory Coast lineup, being replaced by Solomon Kalou. Lamouchi also benched Manchester City player Kolo Toure, who made defensive mistakes in the opener.
''Those we fielded were the ones I believe were ready to play against Tunisia from the very first minute of the game,'' Lamouchi said through a translator.
Drogba, who was quiet in the team's opening match before being substituted in the 74th minute, was among four changes made by Lamouchi.
''Don't try to make it a big deal because I was on the bench, because it's not. Really not,'' Drogba said.
Gervinho scored his second goal of the tournament after a corner on the left side. He picked up the ball just inside the penalty area and fed it to Traore, who quickly passed it back to him as he ran toward the goal and fired a shot into the top of the net. He also scored Ivory Coast's late winner in the 2-1 opening win against Togo.
Yaya Toure, who also netted in the opener, added to the lead near the end by firing a hard shot inside the far post, and Ya Konan closed the scoring with an easy goal after a pass by Gervinho near the penalty spot.
Kalou had a goal disallowed in the 56th after Gervinho was caught offsides before making a cross. Kalou was replaced in the 80th.
Ivory Coast had struggled against Togo and Lamouchi had said that against Tunisia it would be just as important to see his team play better as it was to get the win.
The Ivorians took control of the match from the start and improved from their disappointing opener. Tunisia barely got near Ivory Coast goalkeeper Boubacar Barry, who against Togo was forced to make several big saves.
Tunisia tried to pressure more in the end and its main opportunity was a volley by Saber Khalifa from near the penalty spot in the 84th, prompting a close-range save by Barry.
''We were quite threatening at that stage,'' Tunisia coach Sami Trabelsi said through a translator.
In addition to benching Drogba and midfielder Kolo Toure, Lamouchi added Traore, Ndri Romaric and Tiote to the team. Didier Zokora was named the captain, replacing Drogba.
The Ivorians arrived in South Africa as the tournament favorites thanks to a squad led by Drogba and filled with Europe-based players. The western Africa country hasn't won the continental title since 1992. It was runner-up to Zambia last year in a final that ended in a penalty shootout.
Tunisia also was coming off a last-minute victory in its opener, when it was outplayed during most of the match against Algeria but escaped with a 1-0 victory thanks to a goal in stoppage time.
The team was without leading striker Issam Jemma, who sprained his knee against Algeria and will miss the rest of the tournament.
---
Follow Tales Azzoni at http://twitter.com/tazzoni
