After initial difficulties, Senegal prevailed against clear outsiders Sudan in the round of 16 of the Africa Cup on Saturday afternoon. In Tangier, Morocco, the Senegalese deserved to win 3-1 (1-0), but didn’t show any brilliant performance.
Aamir Abdallah shot Sudan into the lead in the sixth minute of the game with a fantastic shot. Before the half-time whistle, Pape Gueye turned the game around with a brace (29th and 45th + 3). In the final phase, PSG talent Ibrahim Mbaye decided the game with his counterattack goal to make the final score 3-1 (77th).
In the quarter-finals, the Senegalese will meet the winner of the game between Mali and Tunisia on Friday (January 8th, 5 p.m.), who will play their round of 16 on Saturday evening (9 p.m.).
Jakobs is left behind: Abdallah puts Sudan in the lead
The Sudanese, ranked 117th in the FIFA world rankings and already more than on target by reaching the knockout phase, took the lead completely unexpectedly. In a duel with former Cologne player Ismael Jakobs, Abdallah put the ball on his strong left foot and shot the ball into the far corner. It took Senegal a while to get into the game, but they created several great chances.
Abdallah (r.) clenches his fist in celebration, Jakobs loses out
Bayern striker Nicolas Jackson carelessly missed one of these opportunities when he was released centrally in front of the goal but could not get the ball past the Sudanese keeper. Shortly afterwards the time had come: Following preparatory work from former Munich player Sadio Mané, Gueye shot a flat shot into the right corner from around 15 meters.
The Villarreal midfielder also scored the second goal for the clear favorite. This time Jackson returned to the edge of the penalty area and Gueye hit the top left corner. The superiority of the “Lions of Teranga” was now obvious, Sudan escaped with a 2-1 deficit going into the break.
Senegal’s goalkeeper Mendy prevents the equalizer
However, Sudan came out of the dressing room much improved. The advanced full-back Sheddy Barglan forced Senegal’s goalkeeper Édouard Mendy to do a brilliant deed (48th). The Senegalese were too careless in this phase, which prompted coach Pape Thiaw to make an early double substitution: Jakobs and Jackson had to go off in the 52nd minute.
The Senegalese got into the game a little better again and occasionally created scoring opportunities. But the final consequence of making it 3-1 was missing. However, because Sudan lacked ideas, the game plodded along a bit despite the close result. Sudan tried their best, but could no longer get through against the favorites.
Three minutes after his substitution, the 17-year-old Mbaye from Paris St. Germain put the lid on a counterattack when he asserted himself robustly and shot powerfully into the near corner. The deserved but lackluster victory for the favorite was perfect.