RUSTENBURG, South Africa (AP):Cte d'Ivoire didn't need Didier Drogba to earn a berth in the quarter-finals of the African Cup of Nations yesterday while Emmanuel Adebayor was crucial to keep Togo's hopes of advancing alive.

The Elephants beat Tunisia 3-0 despite keeping Drogba in the reserves for most of the match in Rustenburg, while Adebayor came through in Togo's 2-0 win by scoring a first-half goal that keeps his team a draw or a win away from the next round.

Togo will decide their fate in a match against Tunisia on Wednesday.

Togo's win was marked by a broken goalpost that stopped the match for 15 minutes, and for Algeria coach Vahid Halilhodzic kicking the ball in the referee's direction because he didn't call a penalty kick in his team's favour.

Gervinho opened the scoring for Cte d'Ivoire 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 lacklustre performance in the team's opener, came on in the 67th but created few opportunities.

The Elephants have six points in Group D, while Tunisia and Togo are on three each. Algeria are yet to get off the mark.

drogba missing

Drogba, the biggest star entering the tournament, was surprisingly absent in the Ivory Coast line-up, 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 towards 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.

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.