Favourites Senegal had been too sure of themselves after taking the lead against Equatorial Guinea and staggered after the equaliser. Then coach Aliou Cissé got Mané and Co. back on track – and into the semi-finals.
Algeria defeated, Mali eliminated – Senegal knew that Equatorial Guinea was not to be taken lightly. So the favourites started a little hesitantly, the course of the game even. Active player Iban announced the underdog with an early long-range shot (3rd), Equatorial Guinea offered the 2019 finalists a defiance.
Dream pass from Mané
It took more than a quarter of an hour before Liverpool’s Mané’s side became more active: Dia (18.) and Diedhiou (21.) came close, the latter finally struck: Mané put through a perfect pass for Diedhiou, who shot into the short corner – 1:0 Senegal (28.). In the meantime, the lead was deserved, Sarr (34th) and Mendy (37th) almost added to it.
After the break, Senegal made a mistake – they sat back too much. Equatorial Guinea gained the upper hand, were more confident again and were creative: After a supposed hand penalty for the outsiders had been conceded following VAR intervention (52nd), Buyle cheekily equalised with his pike after a short contact – world goalkeeper Mendy was powerless (57th).
The coach’s golden touch
A goal conceded was a wake-up call at the right time. Even though the game was quite open after the 1:1, Senegal got more and more in control. Control alone was not enough, but two substitutions by coach Aliou Cissé were. Kouyaté (68th) and Sarr (79th) both scored from a few metres to send Senegal into the semi-finals against Burkina Faso.
Oba missed a great chance for Equatorial Guinea to score the final goal (86th), so that there was no more suspense in the final minutes with this exception.
