Burkina Faso
assumed pole
position in Group
C at the ongoing
2013 Africa Cup
of Nations after a convincing 4-0
win over Ethiopia
in an entertaining contest played on Friday. Two goals either side of the
break fromAlaine Traore, a third fromYusuf Kone ten minutes to full time and Jonathan Pitroipa’s fourth in added time, ensured the west
Africans bagged their first win of
the competition, a result that
almost ensures the Stallions a
quarter-final berth and places
the east Africans on the brink of elimination. Burkina Faso now lead the Group
standings after garnering 4
points from 2 games, while Nigeria
and Zambia who drew 1-1 in the
earlier match are joint second
with two points apiece. The Walya Antelopes are last, having
garnered a point against Zambia
in their opening game. Ethiopia were full of running
during the opening exchanges of
this duel, dubbed the 'battle of
the underdogs' and took only
four minutes to create the first
goal scoring opportunity. A well worked move that
stretched almost the entire
length of the Mbombela pitch, and
aided by a cheeky flick from
Basseba in the final third,
provided a clear cut chance for Bekele, whose goal bound shot
flew past a hapless Soulama, but
was stopped by the upright. The east Africans were at it again
four minutes later. When Soulama
was caught napping by a back
pass from Koulibaly, a combination
of Kabore and Kone, however,
proved enough to save the Stallions from conceding. Traore, who had been preferred
to start this match ahead of
Moumoni Dagano, responded with
a shot from outside the danger
zone after 10 minutes, which
however, failed to trouble Ethiopia's second choice custodian
Tadelle. A minute later, Sewnet Bishaw
was forced into a substitution for
the second consecutive match
after an injury to dependable
striker Adane Girma saw the Saint
George player walk off in tears with Behailu Assefa coming on as
his replacement. The Stallions then upped the
ante, with Kabare’s dangerous
drive saved by Tadelle, the
rebound from Traore found the
back of the net but was ruled
out for offside. The Walya Antelopes seemed to
tire as the first stanza wore on
and the 1998 Afcon hosts seized
the initiative by grabbing the lead
with ten minutes to the break. An initial shot by Bance was
cleared off the line by Tesfaye,
but went as far as Kabore, whose
invented flick found the unmarked
Traore. The FC Lorient forward
then thumped a fierce shot that found its way to the top left
corner of Tadelle’s net. Bishaw was then forced to make
a second change just before the
teams headed to the dressing
room, with Yared Zinabura coming
in for the injured Megresa. Ethiopia, who are making a
comeback to the continental
showpiece after three decades in
the cold, were the better of the
two teams in the opening minutes
of the second half yet again, but failed to carve out a meaningful
goal threat. The Antelopes coach Bishaw
threw his last dice, by replacing
Bekele with Getanah Kebede on
55 minutes. Ethiopia were
presented with an opportunity to level matters at the hour mark
following a moment of madness
from the Burkinabe custodian
Abdoulaye Soulama. The Asante Kotoko keeper
handled what seemed a harmless
shot just outside the box forcing
Seychelles referee Bernard Camille
to give him his marching orders.
The west Africans technical bench then sacrificed Wilfred Sanou for
reserve keeper, Diakate Daouda.
Daouda then saved the resultant
free kick from Asseffal. Against all odds, however, the
ten-man Burkina Faso stretched
their lead. A neat flick on by
Pitropia saw the ball fall calmly to
Traore who left fly a vicious
volley into the Ethiopian net for the second goal of the match and
his third goal in two games. Five minutes later, the ten man
West Africans sealed the contest
through Kone's well taken goal on
the break that gave Tadelle no
chance. And coach Paul Put's charges
were not finished yet as five
minutes into injury time, Pitropia
capped a memorable evening for
the 1998 semi-finalists by
sweeping home from close range an inch perfect right wing cross
by Kabore.
Topic: AFCON result Match Report: Burkina Faso 4-0 Ethiopia (Read 1116 times)
