AFCON: Senegal conquers Guinea, secures spot in knockout round
TotalEnergies CAF Africa Cup of Nations defending champions Senegal, rubber stamped their place in the TotalEnergies CAF AFCON Round of 16 after second half goals by Abdoulaye Seck and Iliman Ndiaye secured the Lions of Teranga a 2-0 victory in Bouake.
By virtue of winning their first two matches, Senegal had already secured a place in the next phase but with Guinea being two points behind them, it was a battle for the top spot for the two sides.
Following an evenly balanced ties, the deadlock was eventually broken a minute after the hour mark when Abdoulaye Seck found the opener, following a Krepin Diatta assist to give Senegal the lead.
Guinea, seeing that their chance of a place in the round of 16 was in jeopardy with Cameroon and The Gambia playing in a simultaneous fixture, went in desperate search of the equalizer but were met by a tactically sound Senegalese defense.
In true champion style, the defending champions absorbed the pressure and put the match beyond reach with a goal in the 90th minute following a Sadio Mane assist that was finished off by Marseille forward, Ndiaye who doubled and sealed the victory for the Teranga Lions.
Quotes :
Aliou Cissé – Senegal Coach
“I am very satisfied with our players. We had good preparations since camping in December. We were in a tough group of death with strong opposition and won all three which makes me really satisfied. When we lost the final in 2019 to Algeria we learnt a lot from that defeat, which allowed us to win the title two years later in Cameroon. So far, we have scored 8 goals in 3 matches. We will rest a little, and we have 5 days to play the round of 16”.
Kaba Diawara – Guinea coach
“The match was a derby, so we saw some excitement there. Senegal beat us and scored two goals in the match. We regret this loss because we wanted to win. We tried to play and use our strengths, but it wasn’t to be. We faced the African champions and we really wanted to win because the match was a derby. Now we will recover and prepare for the next match. We want to qualify for the quarter-finals.”
CAF Online
