21st January, 2013
BIMBO AJAYI
The Stallions of Burkina Faso Monday night scored a last minute equaliser to grab a 1-1 draw against the Super Eagles of Nigeria in a Group C match of the ongoing 2013 African Cup of Nations in South Africa.
Nigerian began the tie on a sound note in the 3rd minute, when Ahmed Musa received a neat pass from Efe Ambrose. He looked to turn sharply on the wing but was unceremoniously taken out by Burkina Faso midfielder, Saidou Panandetiguiri.
It was the turn of Burkina Faso in the 6th minute, as Moumouni Dagano looked to battle his way through to get on the end of a floating pass, but Nigerian defender Godfrey Oboabona recovered well before eventually earning a free kick for the Eagles.
The Eagles almost got a penalty in the 8th minute when striker Brown Ideye latched on to a fantastic pass from from Chelsea midfielder, Mikel Obi, but he was brought down inside the area by Koulibaly. The Burkina Faso defender eased him out of the way when he looked to be through on goal area, but the referee waved for a play on.
The Nigerian team continued their dominance in the 12th minute, as Ahmed Musa whipped in a fantastic cross from the right flank, but the Dynamo Kyiv man, Ideye powered the ball over the bar with the net at his mercy.
Burkina Faso striker, Wilfried Dah galloped down the right flank and got to the line in the 18th minute, but opted to blast a shot towards the goal rather than clip the ball inside. Although, the 26-year-old had three teammates in the box looking for a pass, he hit the side-netting and Nigeria got a goal kick advantage.
The Eagles scored their first goal in the 22nd minute, as Ideye cushioned a fantastic flick into the path of Emmanuel Emenike, who out-muscled the Burkina Faso defenders to slam home from eight yards.
The first yellow card of the match went to Fegor Ogude, as the Nigerian cynically tripped Jonathan Pitroipa on the left wing, when the Burkinabes were looking to mount a counter attack in the 24th minute.
Burkina Faso players came out smoking in the 29th minute, as Florent Rouamba had two opportunities to whip in a corner kick, but both were flat and didn’t pose much threat to Vincent Enyeama in the Nigeria goal.
The second booking of the match went to Eagles’ defender, Efe Ambrose in the 38th minute, when Aristide Bance showed impressive trickery to flick the ball by the Celtic defender, who stopped the winger with a body check.
Nigeria had another chance to increase the tally in the 43rd minute, when Ideye got on the end of a cross field pass, and smashed a pass into the area for Emenike, but Pape Koulibaly was there to clear the ball into safety.
The Nigerian side got an early chance two minutes into the second half, as Ideye again exchanged a neat one-to-two with Emenike on edge of the box, and hit a dipping volley towards the goal area, but it went off target.
Dagano of Burkina Faso almost got an equaliser in the 50th minute, when he aimed to head home a ball that was whipped in from the far right, but Nigerian defender and skipper, Joseph Yobo deflected the ball away from the goal area with his chest.
Nigerian attacker, Nosa Igiebor however made a wild attempt at goal in the 54th minute when he cut in from the left flank, and unleashed a thunderbolt of a strike towards their opponents vital area, but the attempt lacked any kind of direction and flew out for a goal kick advantage for the Burkinabes.
The Eagles made their first change of the match in the 58th minute, as the goal scorer, Emenike was pulled out for Ikechukwu Uche.
The Burkinabes were fighting back to score in the 62nd minute but goalkeeper Vincent Enyeama made a brilliant save to deny Dagano, who drove in an attempt towards the bottom left corner.
Burkina Faso made their first substitution when Alain Traore came in for Aristide Bance in the 65th minute. His inclusion turned some heat on the Nigerians.
What could have been the second goal for the Eagles came to Ike Uche, who missed an absolute sitter in the 68th minute.
The Villarreal of Spain attacker took the ball down inside the box with a terrific touch, but horribly sliced the ball wide with a left-footed strike seven yards out.
In the 70th minute, Coach Stephen Keshi introduced Ogenyi Onazi of Lazio FC and pulled out Ogude, who got a yellow card earlier in the encounter.
Nigeria’s Igiebor also received a yellow card for a nasty challenge in the 73rd minute, when he raked his studs over the shin of Florent Rouamba.
The Eagles were however reduced to 10-men when defender Efe Ambrose was shown his second yellow card for pulling back Burkina Faso player, Jonathan Pitroipa on the left flank in the 75th minute.
The error forced Nigeria coach Stephen Keshi, to make a defensive substitution in the 78th minute by replacing striker Ideye with defender Kenneth Omeruo, but Burkina Faso responded by introducing Abdourazak Traore for Florent Rouamba in the same minute.
Alain Traore however found himself in a great position inside the box and got a deserved equaliser for Burkina Faso in the 94th minute.
Pitroipa got into a great position inside the box, reversed the ball to the edge of the box and pushed it across the line for an easy jab-in for Traore, after the Eagles’ defence crashed on the night.
In the second match of the group, defending champion, Zambia were held by rookies Ethiopia, 1-1.