TANGIER, Morocco, Jan 9 : Iliman Ndiaye scored the only goal as Senegal beat 10-man Mali 1-0 on Friday to book a semi-final berth at the Africa Cup of Nations for the third time in the last four tournaments.
Ndiaye netted after 27 minutes, taking advantage of a goalkeeping howler to put Senegal ahead in a tense quarter-final against their west African neighbours.
Mali were reduced to 10 men for the second half after captain Yves Bissouma was sent off for a second caution on the stroke of halftime. He was booked first for a clumsy challenge in the 25th minute and was dismissed after a needless foul on Idrissa Gana Gueye.
Mali were down to 10 men from the 26th minute of their previous clash against Tunisia and still managed to squeeze through on penalties but there was no recovery this time around against a polished Senegalese outfit.
Ndiaye started the move that led to his goal with a run down the right wing, passing to wing back Krepin Diatta who then squared into the penalty area.
Mali goalkeeper Djigui Diarra looked to have cut off the effort but the ball slipped from his grasp and squeezed under his body.
Ndiaye was quickest to snap up the loose ball and finished from close-in.
Diarra more than made up for his horror error, however, with a series of fine second-half stops to deny Senegal a bigger advantage as a gallant Mali battled away to get back into the contest.
MALI GOALKEEPER MADE KEY STOPS
Diarra made excellent diving saves and palmed away stinging shots to deny Idrissa Gana Gueye, Sadio Mane and substitutes Pathe Ciss and Lamine Camara.
Mali had a handful of half-chances in the second half but were mainly on the back foot with hard-working striker Lassine Sinayoko an outlet for a rare counter-attack, which kept Edouard Mendy in Senegal’s goal on his toes.
“It was not an easy match because we played against a very talented Mali team but we achieved our objective,” said Senegal coach Pape Bouna Thiaw.
“If we had been more clinical in front of goal we could have scored more goals but what is more important today is for us to have qualified for the semi-final.”
His Mali counterpart Tom Saintfiet paid tribute to his side. “It was a difficult match for us because we had to play large parts of the game with 10 men. But that doesn’t take away the fact that my players played gallantly and played very well,” he said.
Senegal will take on the winner of Saturday’s clash between Egypt and defending champions Ivory Coast.
Hosts Morocco were playing Cameroon in the second of the quarter-final clashes later on Friday.
(Writing by Mark Gleeson in Tangier; Editing by Toby Davis and Christian Radnedge)
