Tunisia coach Samir Trabelsi admits his players reacted badly to going a goal down in extra time in their quarter-final clash with Ghana on Sunday evening.

Andre Ayew scored the winning goal to secure a last-four clash with Zambia after a goalkeeping error from the Carthage Eagles goalkeeper Aymen Mathlouthi.

John Mensah had netted his side's opener with Saber Khelifa equalising for the Eagles in a feisty affair in Franceville at the weekend.

There were some nasty moments towards the end of the tie, however, as the referee seemed to lose control of proceedings.

He was forced to dismiss Aymen Abdennour for an elbow on Ayew. The referee took an age to produce the card, which sparked a mini-melee with a number of players squaring up to each other.

After the game, Trabelsi felt his team had deserved to progress but knew they had failed to react well after conceding late on.

He said: "We did not deserve to lose this football game, we dominated the game but we could not score more than a goal.

"We deserved to go farther in this competition.

"But I must also admit that my players did not have to lose their heads and be temperamental by the first half of extra time when we still had another 15 minutes to play.

"That is my only reproach to this team."