AFCON 2021 hosts Cameroon kicked off their campaign with a 2-1 win over Burkina Faso in the opening day of the tournament.
The Indomitable Lions had to come from a goal down to secure all three points at the Stade Omnisport Paul Biya in Yaounde courtesy of two goals from the spot.
Despite having the home advantage and playing in front of their fans, Cameroon got off to a slow start with Burkina Faso dictating proceedings.
The Stallions were proving a handful in attack and soon got rewarded for their remarkable play with a goal by Gustavo Sangare in the 24th minute.
Sangare unleashed a left-footed shot past Onana to the top left corner from the six-yard box after a fine cross from Aston Villa midfielder Bertrand Traore.
However, Burkina Faso seemed to self-destruct giving away two cheap penalties to Cameroon in close succession to hand them command of the game.
The Video Assistant Referee was called into play for the first time in an AFCON match when Traore committed a foul on the advancing Andre-Frank Anguissa inside the penalty box.
The on court referee had initially waved play to continue but his decision was overruled by VAR who advised him to have a look at the incident via the pitch-side monitor in the review area.
After seeing the incident for himself, a spot kick was awarded to Cameroon.
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Cameroon skipper Vincent Aboubakar made no mistake from the spot as he stepped up to strike the ball with a right-footed shot past Koffi for the equaliser.
Aboubakar was called up again a few minutes later as his side were awarded another penalty after Issoufou Dayo made a rash challenge in the box.
The captain once again converted the resulting penalty to give his side the lead going into the break.
In the second half, Aboubakar thought he had sealed his hat-trick after his effort hit the back of the net. However, the goal was disallowed due to offside in the build-up on the advice of the video assistant referee.
Both sides missed a lot of chances and were hence unable to add to their goal tally with the game ending 2-1.
The win means Cameroon start off their campaign by going top of Group A with three points and condemning Burkina Faso to the bottom of the table.
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