AFCON: How Senegal Edged Out Equatorial Guinea

The last tie of the quarterfinals was determined on Sunday evening as runners-up of AFCON 2019, Senegal battled against Equatorial Guinea.

The star studded Senegal were considered favourites in this year’s edition and also for this game. Their group stage journey was pretty much mediocre compared to the expectations of fans across Africa especially as their lack of goalscoring turned into an issue for many.

Senegal scored just one goal in three group games. A 2-0 win in the Round of 16 against Cape Verde was a stepping stone to their path for African glory. However, their defensive resilience was something to applaud as they came into this game having not conceded a single goal with 4 clean sheets from 4 matches.

Their opponents, Equatorial Guinea were the surprise package of Group E as they finished in second place, beating defending champions Algeria in the process. Another shock victory saw them triumph over Mali on penalties to advance to the quarterfinals. All of these stats and performances steered up a potential firecracker of an encounter.

The game was aggressive from the start as both teams were compact and avoided any costly mistakes. Senegal were more on the front foot compared to their opponents and they were rewarded in the 28th minute when Famara Diedhiou finished brilliantly into the bottom corner after receiving a pass from Sadio Mane.

The teams went into the break with Senegal 1-0 up. Equatorial Guinea did not lie down and they were much ambitious in the second half, piling the pressure on Senegal. A controversial moment in the 51st minute saw Senegal escape a penalty decision, as VAR overturned a spot kick that was initially awarded to Equatorial Guinea by the referee.

That decision did not hinder their intentions, as Equatorial Guinea equalised through Jannick Buyla just 6 minutes after the penalty incident. Cheikhou Kouyate needed only three minutes after his introduction to repay his manager’s faith in him as he scored a header to make it 2-1. Ismaila Sarr got the final nail on the coffin putting his 3-1 ahead.

The Lions of Teranga secured Semifinal qualification as they saw off Equatorial Guinea 3-1. Burkina Faso are their next obstacle in their quest for African glory as they look to cover up for the disappointment of a Final loss to Algeria in 2019.

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