The field of participants of the semi-final of the Africa Cup is complete. Title favorite Senegal got rid of Equatorial Guinea (3-1) on Sunday evening and will face Burkina Faso in the next round on Wednesday. The other semi-final will be played a day later between host country Cameroon and Egypt.
With stars such as Édouard Mendy, Kalidou Koulibaly and Sadio Mané in the starting lineup, Senegal took the lead after 27 minutes. Mané cut open Equatorial Guinea’s defense with a through ball towards Famara Diedhiou, who popped up in front of Jesús Owono’s goal. Diedhiou opened the score with a low shot into the left corner. Five minutes after the break, Equatorial Guinea thought it had an excellent chance to equalize when referee Victor Gomes pointed to the penalty spot.
Koulibaly got the ball against the hand after a cross from Iban Ebu, but the video arbitration instructed Gomes to take another look at the footage. He saw Koulibaly hit the ball against the arm from very close range and withdrew his decision. Six minutes later it was still 1-1: Jannick Buyla was reached in the penalty area by Pablo Ganet and successfully punted the ball into the right corner. It was only Senegal’s first goal against in this edition of the Africa Cup.
Suddenly Equatorial Guinea could hope for a stunt, but in the remainder of the second half, Senegal took the game to itself thanks to goals from two substitutes. Cheikhou Kouyaté suddenly had the ball in front of him in the penalty area when Equatorial Guinea defenders failed to reach their keeper and he gratefully took advantage of the situation. Ismaïla Sarr, recovering from a knee injury, put an end to the last doubts in his first appearance of this Africa Cup after preparatory work by Saliou Ciss.
Over and out for Equatorial Guinea?? Favorite Senegal convincingly joins the last four with a 3-1 win!#AFCON2021 pic.twitter.com/mf0vsqoURv
— ESPN NL (@ESPNnl) January 30, 2022
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