While the continent’s finest teams sought to make the most of an early opportunity to step out strongly on the road to Russia, the weekend’s action also offered observers and supporters the chance to glimpse their national team’s progress ahead of the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations. The Democratic Republic of Congo, Senegal and the Cote d’Ivoire all reached Gabon 2017 as group winners – losing just one game between them. And, based on the evidence of Saturday, the trio will all be confident of booking their spots in Russia as well. Each were impressive for their own, slightly different reasons. The DRC, bronze medallists at the 2015 Afcon, will surely be quietly delighted with their ‘favourable’ opening fixture, and on the evidence of their effervescent performance against Libya, as they devastated the North Africans 4-0, they are in rude health as they aim to reach a first World Cup since 1974. That classic Zaire team was filled with several sublime individuals, and the current Leopards generation aren’t too badly stocked with talent either, with Dieumerci Mbokani (pictured) opening the scoring in the sixth minute after fine work from Yannick Bolasie.

Mbokani would add to his tally in between goals from Jonathan Bolingi and Firmin Mubele in a glittering display, but there were heroes right across the park, from proactive full-back Issama Mpeko to midfield anchor Jacques Maghoma. From composed centre back Marcel Tisserand to the likes of Joyce Lomalisa and extravagant stopper Vumi Matampi Ley, both graduates from the successful Chan side. ALSO READ: DR Congo maul Libya Florent Ibenge deserves immense credit for bolstering his successful Nations Cup squad with a handful of key talents from the diaspora and a few young, homegrown names. With the team as unified as any on the continent, they will surely be a contender in Gabon next year. The Cote d’Ivoire, who dispatched the Congolese in their Nations Cup semi-final in Equatorial Guinea last year, also began their route to Russia with a win when they saw off Mali 3-1 in Bouake. Most impressive about the Ivorians was the character they showed in the first half to come back from Sambou Yatabare’s opening strike – an unexpected setback – to romp into the lead with three goals in the space of eight first-half minutes.

ALSO READ: Elephants too strong for Mali The reigning African champions demonstrated a resolve that will serve them well in Gabon and in their remaining World Cup qualifiers, as Jonathan Kodjia – picked ahead of Wilfried Bony, Salif Coulibaly’s own goal and an effort from Gervinho ensured they began their campaign with all three points. The Ivorians occupy the top spot in Group C after their rivals Gabon and Morocco played out a 0-0 draw in Franceville in the pool’s other match. horizon embroidered grommet curtain panelHowever, while Michel Dussuyer will be delighted with the win, particularly following an underwhelming Afcon qualifying campaign, his side’s lacklustre second-half display may be cause for concern.determine grommet spacing curtains

Finally, Senegal will also be delighted with their start to the campaign after seeing off a conservative Cape Verde side in Dakar. The Lions of Teranga perhaps weren’t as eye-catching or as vibrant as the Congolese, but they demonstrated a refinement and a sophistication in offensive areas that was lacking among almost all of their continental rivals.price list of almonard air curtain Often, the West Africans, still seeing a second World Cup appearance after their unforgettable showing in 2002, are less than the sum of their parts, and take to the field as a disjointed side with a crop of resolute defensive players who cannot connect with a roster of menacing attackers.sheer priscilla curtains attached valance Perhaps the addition of Lazio’s Keita Balde (pictured), a product of Barcelona’s La Masia academy, could change all of that.curtains airside swords

Featuring on one flank, with Liverpool’s Sadio Mane on the other, Balde was lively, inventive and opened the scoring with a delicious 25th-minute effort. Senegal had balance and poise, and completed the victory when substitute Moussa Sow added a second 10 minutes before the end to take them to top spot. ALSO READ: Senegal solid against Cape Verdeswish curtain track stockists london In Group D’s other fixture, both Burkina Faso and South Africa had reasons to feel disappointed after a 1-1 draw in Ouagadougou.carnivale grommet curtains The Stallions will be gutted to have missed two penalties – Alain Traore’s glaring miss would have been  demoralising – but demonstrated resolve to fight back and equalise through Banou Diawara in the 91st minute. Bafana Bafana would surely have taken a draw for much of the contest after being outplayed in spells and twice conceding spotkicks, but there will surely be a sense of regret among Shakes Mashaba and his troops after Dean Furman’s 80th-minute thunderbolt was cancelled out by a late lapse by Bafana Bafana.

ALSO READ: Bafana held by Burkina Faso There are four matches on Sunday, as Algeria host Cameroon and Nigeria travel to Zambia in the ‘Group of Death’, while Egypt will look to continue their renaissance in the Republic of Congo and Tunisia go toe to toe with Guinea.So its just 3 days since the worst result Arsenal had in 115 years, but with the transfer window about to close and apparent relentless activity from Arsenal, I remain confident. The Man Utd result was a severe shock and marks an all time low point, but I see only positives coming out of that. First of all, there is nowhere to go but up, but aside from that, with a bunch of new signings and top players coming back, I believe this season is wide open. Yes, both Manchester teams look extremely strong, but we are only 3 games into the season and a lot can happen. By my reckoning, Arsenal are only 3 point off the pace. A draw at Newcastle is a fair result, a loss at Old Trafford is probably par for the course anyway, and only the defeat at home to Liverpool was really against the grain ... in my book, we have to look to take 3 points from every home game.

So we (Arsenal) are a little off the pace, but we have Song, Sagna, Gibbs, Vermalen, Gervinho and Frimpong all to come back and the new strong signings (looking like Mertesacker, Benayoun, Santos, Park and Arteta as I write just prior to the transfer window closing) all make for a totally different team to the one that resembled a non-league team that got demolished on the weekend. Maybe that colossal defeat will prove to have been for the club. I remain an avid support of Wenger and think he has been treated unfairly. He has done his job well and was handicapped when David Dean left. He always talked positively about the budget he had to spend, but I'm not really sure he had it. I think the current board was scared to spend and believed too much in Wenger's ability to keep buying and developing new talent (which is a remarkable skill). However, I think the embarrassment at Old Trafford has woken up the powers that be and it seems that Wenger has finally been allowed to raid the sweet shop.