A brace from danger man Alain Traore helped Burkina Faso claim the first victory of Group C at Africa Nations Cup 2013 after trouncing 4-0 Ethiopia at the Mbombela Stadium on Friday.
Djakaridja Kone and Jonathan Pitroipa grabbed the other goals for the Stallions in a win that now sees them top the group with four points ahead of Nigeria and Zambia who drew 1-1 earlier in the day.
The opening half of the game saw both teams play free-flowing attacking football with Ethiopia certainly starting brightly. However, and was bitterly unlucky not to take the lead as early as the fourth minute.
A nice interchange of passes on the counter-attack saw Said Saladin play Shemeles Bekele through on goal with a clever back-heel. Bekele, though, wasted the one-on-one opportunity with the keeper as he saw his effort beat the goal-minder, but strike the right-hand post and bounce away from danger.
Sadly, Ethiopia were unlucky as they saw two of their players leave the field before the half time whistle due to injury and also went into the half time break a goal down.
As early as the 11th minute, Ethiopia suffered their first set back in the 11th minute when their main striker Adane Grima had to leave the field with an injured groin muscle – his departure accompanied with tears for one of the saddest moments of the tournament.
In the 34th minute, the Stallions found the back of the net through Alain Traore.
A superb pass over the top of the Ethiopian defence by Kabore saw Alain Traore through on goal and he made no mistake with just the keeper to beat, powerfully firing the ball into the top left-hand corner from 12-yards out, 1-0.
After the break, the second period was not as entertaining as the first, but it was certainly not absent of controversy as the Burkina Faso goalie was shown a red card in the 60th minute.
Abdoulaye Soulama appeared to handle the ball outside of the box; it was a close call by the linesman who flagged for the indiscretion, but got it right still. The referee had no option but to show the goalie a straight red even if it was bit of a tough call on the Stallions.
After that, Ethiopia tried to apply pressure on the opponents’ goal, but it was at the other end where we saw goals flying.
In the 74th minute, Traore found his second of the night with one of the goals of the tournament. The ball almost burst the back of the net as he struck a 30-yard shot that found the top left-hand corner of the goal, 2-0.
Five minutes later and Djakaridja Kone put the result beyond doubt when he found the Stallions third goal.
The icing on the cake was a 95th minute goal for Burkina Faso as Pitroipa grabbed the fourth goal after being put through on goal by Balima, 4-0.
It was Burkina Faso’s first win in an AFCON tournament since 1998 and now top Group C.
Following this victory, Burkina Faso will need just a point against defending champions Zambia in their penultimate game of the group while Cecafa representatives Ethiopia will need more than a miracle to overcome the Nigerian Super Eagles who they play last.
