Burkina Faso overcame Gabon 7-6 on penalties following a 1-1 scoreline after extra time in their African Cup of Nations (AFCON) round of 16 encounter at the Limbe Omnisport Stadium, Limbe in Cameroon.
Bertrand Traore’s goal looked enough to hand the Stallions progress in normal time but Gabon equalized through an own goal in the 90th minute and had to overcome the Panthers in the penalty shootout.
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Burkina Faso have now qualified for the Quarter finals a fourth time in their AFCON history, the third in their past four AFCON appearances.
Traore, the Aston Villa striker, had the opportunity to put Burkina Faso in the lead from the spot but saw his spotkick hit the post, with relief for Gabon. The reprieve lasted only ten minutes before Burkina Faso would eventually take the lead, a through ball from deep released Traore who coolly slotted past an onrushing goalkeeper for 1-0 lead.
Gabon, short of two of their best players in Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Mario Lemina, continued to fight and the Panthers thought they had pounced to score an equalizer with a well worked goal but the video assistant referee confirmed offside and chalked off the well crafted goal.
Despite going down to ten men on 67 minutes, The Panthers continued to seek a route back into the game and finally found the breakthrough in the 90th minute. Captain Bruno Manga rose highest to nod a corner kick into the net via deflection for a 1-1 scoreline at the death, sending the game into extra time.
Burkina Faso had a goal ruled out for offside in extra time but Gabon held on to force penalties where the Stallions won 7-6, with Gabon missing three spot-kicks.
They will meet the winner of the tie between Nigeria and Tunisia in the Quarter finals.
