Equitorial Guinea earned three points after they beat Guinea-Bissau 4-2 in a Group A Africa Cup of Nations encounter at the Olympic Stadium in Ebimpe, Ivory Coast, on Thursday evening.
Equitorial Guinea shot to the lead when their captain and forward Emilio Nsue Lopez scored in the 21st minute. That was Lopez’s 18th goal in 42 matches.
It took Guinea-Bissau 16 minutes before they got the equaliser through Esteban Orozco Fernandez’s goal.
The National Thunder restored their lead when Jose Antonio Miranda Boacho scored a minute into the second half. Lopez completed his brace in the 51st minute.
The 34-year-old Lopez netted hia third goal of the match in the 61st minute. This was the AFCON finals’ first hattrick since the 2008 tournament.
Well-travelled 27-year-old forward Jose Correia scored Guinea-Bissau’s second goal in referee’s added time.
Meanwhile, Guinea-Bissau are out of the tournament having been beaten 2-0 by Ivory Coast in their opening match of the finals and Equitorial Guinea.
