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The Manchester City and Roma players scored either side of a Dieumerci Mbokani penalty before Wilfried Kanon secured the win.

Herve Renard's Ivory Coast lived up to their billing as tournament favourites by securing a spot in the Africa Cup of Nations Final with a 3-1�win over Democratic Republic of Congo at a�sparsely populated�Estadio�de Bata.

Ivory Coast - who now await the victors of Thursday's second semi-final between Ghana and hosts Equatorial Guinea -�are perennial underachievers in the competition, but now have a shot at winning�their first title since 1992 thanks to goals from Yaya Toure,�Gervinho and�Wilfried�Kanon.

Toure's was a stunning strike, though it was quickly cancelled out when�Dieumerci�Mbokani�converted from the spot following�Eric�Bailly's�handball.

An increasingly open game played into the hands of an Ivory Coast side boasting numerous attacking threats, with Wilfried Bony and Gervinho linking for the latter to�make it 2-1 at the break, and Kanon put�icing on the cake in the second half.

The two sides met in qualifying, sharing three points apiece in two games that yielded 10 goals, and�Ivory Coast goalkeeper�Sylvain�Gbohouo�was called into action early on, parrying a firm close-range strike from Jeremy�Bokila.

Serey�Die shot�wide at the other end after�Toure's�set-piece delivery was cleared to the edge of the box, before the Manchester City midfielder showed his countryman the way.

The African Footballer of the Year pounced on a loose ball on the edge of the box and hammered home an unstoppable drive in the�21st�minute.

DR Congo were handed a route back into the match almost immediately, though,�as�Bailly�clumsily handled in the box, with�Mbokani�coolly�levelling�from the spot for his third goal of the tournament.

Florent�Ibenge's�side spurned a chance to take the lead eight minutes before the break, when�Mbokani's�composure deserted him as he looked to steer�Yannick�Bolasie's�low cross towards goal.

And they were punished when Gervinho, who had struck the crossbar just moments before, collected Bony's�pass before curling his shot past Robert Kidiaba.

DR Congo -�who came from 2-0 down in their 4-2 quarter-final win over Congo -�needed a response after the break, and received a boost when Ivory Coast started the second half with 10 men as�Serge Aurier�inexplicably emerged late from the tunnel.

Aurier shot�wide from Max Gradel's�pass soon after returning to the pitch, though, while at the other end, Bolasie's strong run and shot underlined DR Congo's threat.

But DR Congo's dreams of a first final appearance since 1974 were finally dashed in the 68th minute as Kanon�stabbed home from inside the six-yard box after�Aurier's powerful header was brilliantly kept out by�Kidiaba.

This time a two-goal deficit proved insurmountable for Ibenge's side, who will at least be able to reflect on their best performance at the competition since 1998 ahead of a third-place�play-off against Thursday's losers.