A stuttering start for Ghana as they go down in defeat to Ivory Coast in a Group B match in Cabinda.

It was the first at the tournament for Ghana, who did not play as scheduled on Monday after the departure ahead of the start of the African Nations Cup by Togo following a deadly attack on their bus in the Angolan enclave.

But the Black Stars failed to sparkle on the night as Ivory Coast finished the night 3-1 winners.

A run down the right had Salomon Kalou squaring to Gervinho who had the simple task of tapping it into the net after 23 minutes to put the Ivorians in the lead.

However, Ghana looked very lively from the last 10 minutes with a superb effort from Kwadwo Asamoah drawing an equally good save from Boubacar Barry.

Back from recess, Milovan Rajevac ringed the changes as Michael Essien and Asamoah Gyan were introduced for Moussa Narry and Andre Ayew.

Ivory Coast were reduced to ten men after Emmanuel Eboue flew into Opoku Agyemang with two feet off the ground, attracting a red card.

Ghana seemed to have gotten the equaliser but Matthew Amoah saw his shot from inside the box graze the upright.

The Black Stars went close again with Boubacar Barry almost misjudging a free-kick that he managed to tip over.

But Ghana were dealt a real blow when the Ivorians doubled their lead as Siaka Tiene scored from a free-kick on 66 minutes.

Rajevac made his final change with Harrison Afful taking the place of Opoku Agyemang.

As the minutes ticked on the stop clock, Ivory Coast appeared to have sealed victory and a place in the quarter finals when Didier Drogba rose to nod the ball in at the far post on the stroke of regulation time.

Asamoah Gyan earned Ghana a late penalty and scored from the spot kick to hand the Black Stars a consolation.

A disappointment but Ghana still has the chance to advance in the competition when they come up against Burkina Faso in Luanda on Tuesday in the final Group B match.

Starting team : Richard Kingson, Samuel Inkoom, Ibrahim Ayew, Eric Addo, Isaac Vorsah, Emmanuel Agyeman-Badu, Andre Ayew/Asamoah Gyan, Moussa Narry/Micheal Essien, Mathew Amoah, Kwadwo Asamoah, Opoku Agyemang/Harrison Afful

Subs : Philemon McCarthy, Hans Adu Sarpei, Asamoah Gyan, Ransford Osei, Jonathan Mensah, Anthony Annan, Micheal Essien, Lee Addy, Daniel Adjei, Dominic Adiyiah, Harrison Afful, Haminu Draman.