Burkina Faso come from behind to beat 10-man Equatorial Guinea in AFCON opener

Equatorial Guinea were forced to play with 10 men for the majority of the second half as Basilio Ndong saw red five minutes after the restart.

But despite defending for the majority of the tie, Marvin Anieboh came off the bench to head his side into a shock 85th minute lead.

And just as it appeared as if Burkina Faso were in for a damaging defeat, stoppage time goals from substitute Georgi Minoungou (90+5') and defender Edmond Tapsoba (90+8') sealed the all-important three points.

Both sides had looked lively in the opening exchanges, but it was the more-fancied Burkina Faso who created the first real chance, after four minutes, as captain Bertrand Traore fired just wide of the right-hand upright from the edge of the box, after some good attacking play down the right flank.

Saul Coco then needed to make a last-gasp intevention to deny Pierre Kabore an opening goal as he looked to connect to a Dango Outtara cross from the left.

And Burkina Faso were nearly in again from the resultant corner only for Basilio Ndong to head clear a goalbound Issoufou Dayo's header.

Guinea were seeing more of the ball as the match opened up and finally created a chance on 19 minutes when Jose Machin teed up Luis Asue for a shot, but he only succeeded in blasting his effort well over the target.

Machin then made the most of a loss of possession in midfield by Ismahila Ouedraogo to fire in at goal with 32 minutes on the clock, but his effort was just an inch over the crossbar.

Burkina Faso were winning plenty of corners but failed to make use of any of their set-pieces in a first half they largely dominated.

Another good attack saw Toure battle to get in a cross from the right after some swift interplay but Equatorial Guinea keeper Jesus Owono was well-placed to punch clear the danger.

The Burkinabe continued to search for an opener and were nearly in again when Ouattara fired goalward, but his shot was blocked by a clutch of bodies in the box.

The same player then let the ball get away from him as he raced into the area from the left hand-side, to allow Owono to come out and collect.

The final chance of the game fell to Kabore, following a neat Ouattara lay-off but he smashed over the goal when a deft finish was needed.

While Burkina Faso were the more dominant side, they lacked a clinical edge in the final third, but something must have been said during the interval because t took just one minute after the break for Traore to get a shot on target, although it lacked the power to beat Owono in goal.

With Equatorial Guinea already chasing the game, a red card to Ndong only compounded matters, with the player dismissed following a clumsy tackle on Traore that left the player writhing in pain.

Asue was then sacrificed as Guinea boss Juan Micha strengthened his defence with the introduction of Charles Ondo.

With an extra man there was even more space for Burkina Faso to exploit, but again their finishing let them down, this time on 58 minutes as Ouattara passed his shot directly at Owono after a superb through ball to set him up.

Kabore headed a Arsene Kouassi cross from the left-hand side over the goal when he should have at least hit the target, while some more dogged Guinea defending denied their opponents what looked like a certain goal as Ouattara's close-range cross was scrambled clear.

Pablo Ganet fired just wide from 30 yards with 64 minutes on the clock as Guinea made a rare foray forward, while they had a real chance to take a shock lead with 69 minutes played as Akapo was allowed space to shoot, but ultimately could only fire wide from 18 yards.

It was only a matter of time before Burkina Faso's pressure paid off and they finally found the back of the net, with substitute Lassina Traore scoring with his first touch after being brought on just seconds earlier - but the goal was ruled out by VAR for offsides.

Brama Traore kept ringing the changes in a bid to find a winner but it was Guinea who were looking the more likely to find a late goal with Burkina Faso looking increasingly frustrated.

And it was the 10-man of Guinea who were to break the deadlock at Stade Mohammed V as substitute Marvin Anieboh got his head to an 85th minute corner to power home past an outstretched Koffi in the Burkina Faso goal.

Issoufou Dayo, meanwhile, headed over from close range with 93 minutes on the clock as Ouattara sliced a half-chance wide as Burkina Faso continued to stream forward but without an end result.

And just when it appeared that Guinea had done enough to see out this tie, a long throw into the area caused confusion, and substitute Georgi Minoungou was on hand to fire home from inside the box - after the ball dropped to him as Ouattara appeared to be upended in the area.

Tapsoba then broke Equatorial Guinea hearts with a last-gasp winner, with 98 minutes on the clock with an unchallenged header as he connected to Cyriaque Irie's looping cross that Owono struggled to palm clear.

A devastating result for Equatorial Guinea but a sigh of relief for Burkina Faso ahead of their second Group E clash with Algeria on Sunday. Equatorial Guinea next face Sudan in their second group game.

READ MORE: Netball South Africa to engage sports minister over new arena