Sadio Mané strike settles semi as Senegal beat Egypt to reach AFCON final

Sadio Mané scored the only goal 12 minutes from time as Senegal beat Egypt in the Africa Cup of Nations semi-final, earning a place in Sunday’s final against hosts Morocco.

The match was scrappy and low on invention, with numerous fouls, stoppages and time-wasting. Senegal had almost two-thirds of the ball but struggled to fashion clear openings against an Egypt side that sat three central defenders deep, protected by two deep-lying midfielders and showed little attacking ambition.

The decisive moment came when Lamine Camara’s shot hit Hamdy Fathy and spun to Mané, who controlled and from just outside the box hit a ferocious snapshot past Mohamed El Shenawy. Egypt appealed for handball and offside; the ball had struck Mané’s chest and the goal stood. Mané said: “We were patient and we knew that any kind of mistake would be punished…so we tried from the beginning to be compact and to press as soon as we lost the ball,” and added, “Every team has a specific way of playing…This is Egypt.”

The win carried a cost for Senegal: Kalidou Koulibaly and Habib Diarra were ruled out of the final through suspension after collecting yellow cards, with Koulibaly having gone off injured in the first half and Diarra withdrawn at half-time. For Egypt, criticism of the performance has continued and it was suggested it may cost Hossam Hassan the manager’s job before the World Cup.

Key Topics

Sports, Sadio Mané, Senegal, Egypt, Afcon, Morocco