Ghana produce late goal flurry to finish third

Hosts Ghana scored three times in the last 20 minutes to beat Ivory Coast 4-2 and finish third in the African Nations Cup yesterday.

Boubacar Sanogo, making his first start of the tournament, scored twice in nine minutes to give Ivory Coast a 2-1 half-time lead. Quincy Owusu-Abeyie made it 2-2 before goals from Junior Agogo and Haminu Dramani gave the hosts an impressive win.

The win sparked wild celebrations among a near capacity crowd. The match was played in an atmosphere far removed from the usual day-after feeling of the third place game.

Ghana drew first blood in the 10th minute when Sulley Muntari scored with a 25-metre free-kick.

Sanogo equalised in the 24th minute and he struck again eight minutes later, stabbing home the rebound after Didier Drogba's effort was saved by Richard Kingson.

The pace dropped after half-time as Ivory Coast eased up while Ghana looked short of ideas in midfield. However, as hundreds of moths descended on the Baba Yara stadium, Owusu-Abeyie equalised in the 70th minute when he accelerated through the Ivorian defence and slipped the ball past Kone.

Agogo latched on to Michael Essien's pass to put Ghana ahead in the 80th minute and Dramani added the fourth with a shot four minutes later.

Today's final: Egypt vs Cameroon (18.00).