Burkina Faso, on Saturday, stunned the Carthage Eagles of Tunisia by a lone goal to progress to the semi-finals of the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) Cameroon 2021.
Dango Ouattara’s goal on the stroke of halftime was enough for Burkina Faso to defeat Tunisia at the Stade Roumdé Adjia in Garoua.
Ouattara, who was sent off in the closing stages, scored on the stroke of halftime to give Kamou Malo’s side the victory against the Carthage Eagles of Tunisia.
The Stallions, who were without their talisman and captain, Bertrand Traore, started brightly at the Omnisports Roumde stadium in Garoua.
The Burkinabe controlled possession in the opening exchanges with Steeve Yago and Ibrahim Toure pulling the strings in midfield.
Cyrille Bayala had the first opening of the closely contested match when he found space on the left to shoot straight at Bechir Said in the Tunisian goal midway through the first half.
The Carthage Eagles were denied by Koffi on 26 minutes when he dived to his left to save Wahbi Khazri’s fierce free kick.
The two sides continued to cancel each other in the midfield, while they tried to break on the counter.
A defensive mistake in the Burkinabe box almost allowed Jaziri to score when he charged down Soumaila Ouattara.
Dango broke the deadlock with a neat finish from a swift counter attack. Ibrahim Toure played him through on goal and he cut inside before firing past Bechir.
The Tunisians returned after the break with more determination as they searched for the equaliser.
Kouakou Koffi pulled another brilliant save from a set piece to keep the lead. Substitute Ali Maaloul, volleyed a sumptuous strike but Koffi was equal to it.
The Stallions were reduced to 10-men late on when goal scorer Dango was sent off for swinging an arm on a Tunisian defender.
The Burkinabe held on to progress to the semis of the tournament and they will meet the winner of the encounter between Senegal and Equatorial Guinea.
Meanwhile, Toko Ekambi scored both goals as hosts, Cameroon, booked their place in the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) semi-finals with a 2-0 win over Gambia.
Gambia had surprised many by even making it out of the group stage in their debut participation in the tournament, before going on to eliminate Guinea in the last 16.
But the nation ranked 150 in the world —- exactly 100 places below Cameroon —- fell to a couple of Ekambi strikes at Stade Omnisport de Douala on Saturday.
Cameroon dominated the first half but only seriously tested opposition goalkeeper Baboucarr Gaye on one occasion through a Vincent Aboubakar header.
Lyon forward Ekambi made the breakthrough for the home side five minutes into the second half, however, with a header across Gaye from a Collins Fai delivery.
Any hopes Gambia had of prolonging their magical run further were ended seven minutes later when Ekambi got in behind to convert Martin Hongla’s cross from close range.
Egypt or Morocco, who meet on Sunday, await Cameroon in the semi-finals.
