Bertrand Traore came off the bench to score a late penalty as Burkina Faso opened their 2023 Africa Cup of Nations campaign with a 1-0 win over Mauritania on Tuesday.
Mauritania had been minutes away from just a third-ever point at AFCON but a late challenge by Nouh El Abd on Issa Kaboré in his own box saw Burkinabe win a penalty after a VAR review in stoppage time with Traore stepping up to send keeper Babacar Niasse the wrong way.
Mauritania who had been thought to be underdogs had done well to keep their opponents at bay despite Burkinabé forwards Cedric Badolo and Mohamed Konaté threatening them the entire time.
Mauritania even went close to taking the lead when Aboubakary Koita initially caught Burkina Faso’s Hervé Koffi off-guard with a free-kick, only to see the keeper produce an exquisite save to deny the Lions of Chinguetti the lead for the first time in an AFCON match.
Coach Amir Abdou would have been proud of his charges’ first-half display, especially as they prevented the Stallions from finding the back of the net before the break for the first time in six AFCON group encounters.
A host of attacking changes for the Lions indicated a change in tempo at the other end, with substitute Amar Sidi Bouna’s thunderous long-range shot forcing Koffi into a brilliant save, denying Mauritania just a second goal at the AFCON finals in the process.
Burkina Faso responded, as Niasse pulled off a terrific one-handed stop to keep Traoré’s drive at bay, but it proved to be in vain as Issa Kaboré won a penalty in stoppage time. Traoré made up for his earlier miss with a well-taken spot-kick to extend Burkina Faso’s scoring streak to 15 consecutive AFCON games.
