Lion Blessé of Fotouni have progressed to the semi final of the Cup of Cameroon after dumping out Tonnerre of Yaounde two nil on Sunday at the Yaounde Omnisports stadium annex.

First half goals from Richard Eyebe and Hervé Mbida sealed a semi final spot for a ten-man Lion Blessé who now join Eding Sport, Unisport of Bafang and Panthere of Nde into the final four.

However, the scoreline of the game only told half of the story as Tonnerre will rue their profilgacy infront of goal and were made to pay by a very clinical Lion Blessé side who converted their first two shots on target in the first half.

However, Tonnerre should have gone ahead in the second minute of the game when Daniel Atangana’s goal-bound shot was cleared off the line in a series of missed chances that will follow in the first quarter.

Lion Blessé sprang to life after 15 minutes when Pascal Mvogo launched a quick counter with Patrick Anaba before finding Richard Eyebe in the box but the latter’s goal-bound shot was handled by Noussoufa Houzaifi giving the referee no option but to point to the spot.

Richard Eyebe stepped up and sent Pierre Sylvain Abogo the wrong way to put Lion Blessé ahead.

Tonnerre should have struck back immediately after Daniel Atangana beat the offside trap before rounding off the goalkeeper but his side-netting finish left fans gnashing their teeth in the stands.

Tonnerre took the game by the scruff of the neck but poor finishing was a familiar theme for th Mvog Ada boys who were once again punished on the stroke on half time when Mossio Abissama robbed Stephane Tambo in the middle of the park before countering at break-neck speed and laying off the ball for Herve Mbida to slot past Pierre Abogo and hand Lion Blessé a two-goal cushion going into the dressing room.

It was a familiar wasteful Tonnerre that returned after the break against Yves Eloundou shooting off wide when put through on goal and substitute Théophile Etoga left with an empty net headed wide from close range.

Lion Blessé tinkered with their formation in the second half and shifted from a 4-3-3 to 4-4-2 , leaving two men infront to feed off long balls while defending deep.

Despite a second booking for goal scorer Richard Eyebe , the ten men of Lion Blessé held out for the win to book their place into the semi finals.

Match Sheet:

Quarter finals, Cup of Cameroon

Venue: Ahmadou Ahidjo stadium Annex No1

Score : Tonnerre 0-2 Lion Blessé Foutouni

Goal Scorers: Richard Eyebe (pen 13′), and Hervé Mbida (45+1′)

Bookings : Noussoufa Houzaifi (Tonnerre) ,     Hervé Boum (57′) and Richard Eyebe (38’+ 83′, sent off) for Lion B.

Teams:

Tonnerre of Yaoundé:

01-Pierre Sylvain Abogo (GK), 04-Pierre Ndomo (cap), 03-James Ovidi, 13-Jean Jacques Pondi, 07-Kong Abate, 06-Louis Epoune, 11-Stéphane Tambo, 14-Daniel Atangana, 12-Yves Eloundou, 02-Noussoufa Houzaifi(15-Theophile Etoga 80′), 17-Onobiono Onobiono

Subs:

16-Rodrigue Foumane(GK), 08-Serge Banuimbe, 18-Arsène Obama, 09-Laurent Abah, 10-Gilbert Tsanga, 15-Théophile Etoga, 05-Tony Ondigui

Head Coach: Abah Onana

Lion Blessé Foutouni

01-Willy Armand Dredé (GK), 05-Stéphane Ndong, 04-Hervé Boum, 17-Basile Sabkaim, 11-Pascal Mvogo(Jean Paum Ngah 55′), 10-Atangana Ntsama, 06-Mossio Abissima, 14-Hervé Mbida(Joel Noukeu 80′), 09-Patrick Anaba, 07-Richard Eyebe, 02-Payip Nkonga(Patrick Nkoue 88′)

Subs:

22-James Désiré (GK), 13-Stanislas Ahanda, 12-Boris Nang, 18-Marc Socrate Onana

Head Coach: Clémént Etélé

Man of the Match: Hervé Mbida

Reactions:

Abah Onana, Coach Tonnerre: “We were wasteful infront of goal, we didn’t take our chances today, that’s just the truth. We controlled the game, created alot of chances but we lacked that killer instinct to put the ball in the back of the net. We are disappointed but that is football.”

Hervé Mbida, Goal scorer Lion Blessé: ” We knew what to expect from Tonnerre so we had to play as a team to get a result here and that is just what we did. We set up to counter them especially after scoring our goals, we changed to a narrow midfield in order to contain them and our game plan worked out as we expected. We are looking up gto the semi finals with hop.”

Match Stats

Tonnerre                       Lion Blessé

0                   Goals                    2

60              Possession           40

16                 shots                  04

06              on-target              02

10               off-target              02

01           Yellow cards          03

0                Red Cards             01

08              Corners                  02

10                Fouls                    20

01                Offside                 03