Late goals secure Burkina Faso a place in semi-final

Burkina Faso scored twice in the closing minutes of a dramatic quarter-final clash with Tunisia to secure their place in the last four of the Africa Cup of Nations.

A tense game at Stade de l'Amitié was heading to extra-time until substitute Aristide Bance - who was only on the pitch for five minutes – broke the deadlock with a sweetly-struck free-kick with only nine minutes remaining.

Tunisia threw everyone forward in desperate search of an equaliser but they were caught cold on the counter-attack with Prejuce Nakoulma doubling the advantage to secure victory for the north African side.

It was no more than Paulo Duarte's side deserved and Les Étalons can now look forward to a semi-final clash with either Morocco or Egypt. Meanwhile, it’s more heartache for Tunisia who have now failed to progress from their last five knockout matches in the tournament.

A tale of two substitutes. The two sides were evenly matched when coach Henryk Kasperczak decided to remove star midfielder Wahbi Khazri from proceedings midway through the second-half. The Sunderland man was fuming to be replaced and in the end it proved to be the wrong decision as the Carthage Eagles lost all momentum. In stark contrast, the introduction of Aristide Bance had the exact opposite effect for Burkina Faso as the substitute effectively won the game for his side.

Aristide Bance (Burkina Faso): You could sense something spectacular was going to happen when Burkina’s cult hero made his way onto the pitch with fewer than 15 minutes to play. A short while later and the forward had scored and struck the post.

Burkina Faso: Herve Koffi 7, Yago 7, Kone 7, Dayo 6, Y. Coulibaly 6, P. Nakoula 7, R. Traore 7, Kabore 7, B. Traore 7, Bayala 7, Toure Blati 7. Subs: Bouba N/A, A. Traore N/A, Bance 8.

Tunisia: Mathlouthi 5, Ben Youssef 7, Abdennour 6, Ali Yacoubi 6, Naguez 7, Khazri 7, Sassi 6, Ben Amor 6, Sliti 6, Msakni 7, Khenissi 7. Subs: Lahmar 5, Akaichi N/A, Khelifa N/A.

14’ - OVER! Tunisia are almost undone on the counter attack! Traore releases Nakoulma with a delightful through ball but the forward panics and fires his shot over the bar.

21’ - CLOSE! Nakoulma makes a miraculous recovery to set up Traore for what was almost the opening goal. The on-loan Ajax man tries to chip the ball into the top corner but his shot is slightly too high, clips the crossbar and goes over.

31’ - INCHES WIDE! Tunisia take a short corner which finds Ben Amor on the edge of the penalty area and the midfielder shows wonderful technique to strike the shot first time and it's narrowly wide of the post. Koffi was beaten!

33’ - SO CLOSE! Slitti delivers a delicious cross to the near post from the corner which Khenissi flicks on to the back post but the ball has just too much pace for Yacoubi who only needed a touch!

62’ – KHAZRI REPLACED: Khazri is going off but he's not one bit happy and refuses to shake his manager's hand! He is replaced by Hamza Lahmar.

76’ - BURKINA SUB: Bayala, who has probably been Burkina's most dangerous player in this second-half, is replaced by Aristide Bance in midfield.

81’ - GOAL! Burkina Faso 1-0 Tunisia. The substitute Bance who puts Burkina Faso ahead with a well struck free-kick into the bottom right-hand corner. Great strike!

82’ - CHANCES! Bance is denied a quick-fire second by the post! The rebound falls to Nakoulma but his shot is cleared off the line by Youssef!

84’ - GOAL! Burkina Faso 2-0 Tunisia. Nakoulma doubles the Burkina Faso's lead and surely it's game, set and match now. Tunisia are caught cold at the back from a corner! The ball was cleared to Nakoulma on the channel and the forward showed a fantastic turn of pace to get forward, drawing Tunisia's goalkeeper Mathlouthi off his line, he kept his cool and rounded him before putting the ball into an empty net.