After Jordan Ayew and Wakaso Mubarak had given the Black Stars a comfortable two-goal half-time cushion, the partisan home crowd began throwing water bottles onto the pitch as the Ghanaian players left the field.

They were forced to hide under police riot shields as they made for the tunnel.

When they returned to resume the second half, fans were still littering the pitch with objects and the match had to be briefly stopped, but that was merely a sign of things to come.

When play was restarted, Ayew added a third with 15 minutes to go before the crowd trouble reared its ugly head once more, causing a long delay as the Equatorial Guinea fans showed no sign of ceasing their disruption.

Ghana fans decided to come down to the running-track and subsequently had to take cover from the shower of plastic bottles raining down on them as bewildered coaches and players stood in the centre circle, watching the chaotic scenes unfold in front of them.

As a helicopter hovered above the stadium, Equatorial Guinea's players attempted to restore order but seemingly it was to no avail before tear gas was released, causing fans to exit the ground.

Ghana's players had to hide under police riot shields as they left the pitch for half-time as the Equatorial Guinea fans pelted them with missiles ©Getty Images



It looked as though all signs were pointing towards an abandonment but after yet more bizarre scenes, where the referee looked as though he was about to resume play before officials tried to intervene, the match resumed briefly before the final whistle was blown.

The result saw Ghana book their place in the final where they will meet Ivory Coast on Sunday (February 8).

The rather unsavoury incidents either side of half-time and late on in the semi-final tainted the contest as a whole and added another substantial blot on the Africa Cup of Nations canvas.

Though the crowd will grab the post-match headlines for their needless behaviour in the stands, the Equatorial Guinea players can be proud of their achievement of making the last four.

They only qualified as host nation and endured a hectic build-up to the event itself, giving debuts to five players in a pre-tournament friendly, while coach Esteban Becker was only hired 11 days before the start of the competition.

Few had given them any chance of success despite being the host nation but they made the semi-finals for the first time in their history following a hugely controversial win over Tunisia, after which referee Seechum Rajindrapasard was handed a six-month suspension.

But Ghana proved a step too far as they put in a composed performance amid the chaos, dominating the match for large periods as they won at a canter.

Amid all the chaos Jordan Ayew bagged a double to send his nation through to their first Africa Cup of Nations final since 1982 ©Getty Images



The Black Stars went in front on 42 minutes thanks largely to a moment of madness from Equatorial Guinea goalkeeper Felipe Ovono after he came rushing off his line before he scythed  Kwesi Appiah down in the area, and Ayew calmly stroked home the resulting spot-kick.

The goal seemed to take the wind out of Equatoguinean sails and Ghana gave them an even bigger mountain to climb with a classic counter-attacking goal just five minutes later as Christian Atsu squared the ball for Mubarak who duly converted to all but seal their passage into the final.

When Ayew tapped into an empty net after Ovono had gone walkabout once more for Ghana's third, the result was already a formality.

The chaos soon followed, and the events in Malabo marred not just the match but the tournament as a whole on what was another terrible night for African football.

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