Hosts Ivory Coast eliminated reigning champions Senegal in a penalty shootout to book their place in the Africa Cup of Nations quarter-finals following a 1-1 draw after extra time in Yamoussoukro.
In Yamoussoukro, a thrilling last-16 match ended 1-1 after extra time. Senegal’s Habib Diallo scored after four minutes, and France’s Franck Kessie tied the game with a penalty four minutes before the end of regular time.
It was Kessie who saved the penalty kick in the shootout after Moussa Niakhate hit the post with the third Senegalese penalty.
It was the seventh time in a row that the holders of the Cup of Nations lost. Since Egypt in 2008, no team has been able to defend their title past the round of 16.
Even though the host country lost badly to Equatorial Guinea 4-0 last Monday, fans still lined up in the middle of the night to buy tickets in the central city.
After the record-setting loss at home, French coach Jean-Louis Gasset was fired. The Elephants then tried to bring back former coach Herve Renard but failed, so they promoted assistant Emerse Fae.
In the west African showdown, the 16 qualifiers from the group stage were matched up against the best and worst teams.
Senegal easily beat Gambia, Cameroon, and Guinea to win Group D. They were the only team in their section to make it to the next round, with a perfect nine points.
Ivory Coast only got three points because they lost to Nigeria and had a goal difference of -3, but they still made it as the last of the four best third-placed teams.
Fae made five changes to the team that played Equatorial Guinea in the first game. Serge Aurier, Odilon Kossounou, Jean Michael Seri, Max-Alain Gradel, and Jean-Philippe Krasso were all given more playing time.
Even though Senegal beat Guinea 2-0 in their last group game, they changed three players in the starting lineup. Moussa Niakhate, Abdou Diallo, and Lamine Camara all came in.
Ivory Coast didn’t want to give up an early goal because they were already mentally weak, but Habib Diallo scored his second goal of the AFCON within four minutes, putting them behind.
When Sadio Mane crossed the ball, Diallo controlled it with his chest and then fired a high shot past Youssef Fofana in goal.
Five minutes later, the Gabonese referee gave Mane a yellow card for a careless tackle on Ibrahim Sangare. Sangare returned to the game after getting treatment on and off the field.
The Ivorians were much better than they were in their last game. They slowly took control, but their opponents fought back by pulling all 10 outfield players back when they were under pressure.
The defending champions were under a lot of pressure in the first half, but they finished strong without being able to extend their lead.
As the last quarter began, the game was still very close. Ivory Coast had more of the ball, but Senegal looked like they were more likely to score because Ismaila Sarr’s shot was blocked and an appeal for a penalty was turned down.
The crowd was excited when Sebastien Haller came on, since he had been hurt and missed the group stage. Mane took a shot from close range that just missed the target.
When the Ivorians chose route one, Nicolas Pepe, a substitute, made a great save off of Edouard Mendy, the Senegal custodian.
But Senegal finally scored in the 86th minute when Mendy fouled Pepe. After a VAR review, the referee changed his mind about not awarding a penalty, and Franck Kessie calmly made the goal.
Mane, who has won two African Player of the Year awards, had a shot blocked by Fofana just before half.
Photo by Sydney Mahlangu/BackpagePix
