Guinea kept their hopes of progressing to the Africa Cup of Nations quarter-finals alive as they thumped 10-man Botswana 6-1
Guinea trample over Zebras
Guinea kept their hopes of progressing to the Africa Cup of Nations quarter-finals alive as they thumped 10-man Botswana 6-1 in Franceville on Saturday evening.
Syli Nationale stormed into the lead after 15 minutes as Abdoul Camara managed to keep the ball in play along the by-line, and his delivery into the area was met sweetly by Sadio Diallo who slid in to rifle the ball past goalkeeper Modiri Marumo.
The Zebras drew themselves level a few minutes later as Guinea goalkeeper Naby Yattara up-ended Jerome Ramatlhakwane inside the area, and although he managed to keep out Dipsy Selolwane's penalty, the referee spotted the stopper off the line and ordered a retake, which the striker duly slotted home.
The score line didn't stay the same for long though and Guinea were soon back in front, Diallo grabbing his second with a well drilled effort past the goalkeeper.
Abdoul Razzagui Camara managed to make it 3-1 shortly before the break, coasting down the left before rifling his shot past Marumo, and the Zebras' day went from desperately bad to inconsolably worse as substitute Motsepe was shown a straight red card for a studs-up challenge into the back of Pascal Feindouno.
Mompati Thuma would have been happy to get his side into the break as it was, but four minutes into added time Ibrahim Traore added a fourth, curling a brilliant free-kick in off the upright to effectively put the game to bed with 45 minutes still to play.
The second-half proved more of the same, with Guinea constantly threatening the Zebras goal, and it should have been 5-1 after 55 minutes as Bangoura, who came on as a substitute, unleashed a stinging shot which cannoned off the bar, down over the line and back out, but the linesman didn't seem to notice and the goal was not given.
It proved to be a case of damage control for the Zebras in the second-half, and they were fortunate not to concede again after 74 minutes as Alhassane Bangoura ran through on goal before rounding the keeper with the net at his mercy, but he went for far too much power and blazed well over from a few yards out.
However, the final few minutes of the match left Botswana with their heads hanging low as Mamadou Dioulde Bah slammed home a ferocious strike via a deflection before Naby Soumah added the sixth, gliding into the area before placing his shot neatly into the bottom corner.