Guinea qualified for the quarter-finals of the African Cup on Sunday by beating Equatorial Guinea 1-0 thanks to a goal scored in the final seconds of added time.
The Guineans played in numerical superiority from the 55th minute after the expulsion of Federico Bikoro. They were denied a goal for offside in the 52nd while the Equatoguineans missed a penalty in the 69th.
It was a beautiful header from Mohamed Bayo (98th) which finally sent Guinea to the quarter-finals after a match which only really got lively in the second period.
The Guineans, who dream of repeating their feat of 1976 when they finished 2nd in the competition, will play in the quarter-final against Egypt or the Democratic Republic of Congo, who face each other on Sunday evening.
The expulsion of Bikoro for a sole in the chest of Mohamed Bayo could have turned the match around after a particularly dull first period but the Guineans did not manage to realize their numerical superiority until the last seconds of the match.
The Equatoguinean Nzalang (lightning bolt) and the Guinean Sily (elephant) were tied 0-0 at the break in a stadium transformed into a veritable oven.
The match came alive at the restart with a volley from Equatoguinean captain Emilio Nsue which flew over Ibrahim Koné’s goal. The increase in pace was confirmed with a Guinean attack in the 49th minute but Morgan Guilavogui completely missed his shot.
Sily thought they had opened the scoring in the 52nd minute but the goal was disallowed for obvious offside. Bikoro then received his red card before a bad Guinean tackle on Iban Salvador (66th) saw the referee whistle a penalty after examining the VAR. But Emilio Nsue sent the ball… onto the Guinean goal post!
The Guinean players remained confused as they approached the opposing cages even if the Equatorial Guinean goalkeeper Jesus Owono turned away a well-aimed header from Serhou Guirassy with a nice tap (83rd).
As extra time approached after eight minutes of added time, Mohamed Bayo sent his team into the quarter-finals with a fine pass from Ibrahim Diakité.
