Ghana’s Jordan Ayew converts a penalty to put his team ahead against Equatorial Guinea yesterday.

Violent scenes overshadowed the African Nations Cup semi-final as Ghana reached Sunday’s final with a 3-0 win over hosts Equatorial Guinea last night in a match halted for 34 minutes late in the second half.

The crowd spilling onto the field meant the match was halted eight minutes from time as spectators sought sanctuary behind the goal after home fans attacked Ghana supporters and rained objects down on their bench.

Security forces fired tear gas and used a helicopter to clear the crowd, almost emptying the stands before the game was finally concluded with the referee playing two more minutes before calling time.

A controversially awarded penalty converted by Jordan Ayew in the 42nd minute, which initially sparked the violence, was followed by goals from Mubarak Wakaso and Andre Ayew to ensure Ghana reached a record ninth final where they will face the Ivory Coast.

The match had eight minutes left to go when the trouble occurred and it looked set to be abandoned, but incredibly was allowed to continue, players clearing bottles off the pitch before the game restarted in the 90th minute. Three minutes of injury-time were played without incident.

Equatorial Guinea only stepped in to host the tournament at the 11th hour after Morocco pulled out due to the Ebola epidemic.

Having never qualified for a World Cup, their only previous African Nations Cup campaign was in 2012 when they reached the quarter-finals.

They went one better than that by knocking Tunisia out in the last eight in the most dramatic of circumstances, but that achievement was soured by last night’s events.

Leicester’s Ghanaian player Jeff Schlupp wrote on Twitter: “Absolutely embarrassing! Just let us go to the final and win this tournament in peace! #Ghana #BlackStars.”