Hosts Cameroon made heavy work of beating 10-man Comoros Islands 2-1 on Monday night to advance to the African Cup of Nations (Afcon) quarterfinal stage.

Comoros Islands had almost everything against them in the last 16 as they missed a number of key players, including goalkeepers, due to an outbreak of Covid-19 in their camp.

Karl Toko Ekambi and Vincent Aboubakar scored the home team’s goals at the Olembe Stadium to eliminate the debutants, who were forced to use a fullback in goal and had their captain sent off after six minutes.

But Comoros still put up a gallant fight and, despite the considerable disadvantage, pulled a goal back from Youssouf M’Changama with nine minutes remaining to depart the tournament with their reputations considerably enhanced.

Cameroon meet upstarts Gambia in the last eight in Douala on Saturday after they upset Guinea 1-0 in Bafoussam earlier on Monday