Mali 0-1 Senegal: Yves Bissouma sees red as Les Aigles edged out of AFCON | OneFootball

Lions of Teranaga continue Africa Cup of Nations campaign despite leggy performance

Yves Bissouma was sent off as Senegal knocked Mali out of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations in Tangier on Friday evening.

Illiman Ndiaye scored the opener for Senegal midway through a bitty opening period, and despite the rain-soaked second half being beset with goalscoring opportunities, it eventually proved the winner.

Mali reached the quarter-final stage by drawing all four of their opening AFCON outings, pipping Tunisia on penalties in the round of 16.

The Lions of Teranaga move on, then, and will face either Egypt or Ivory Coast in the semi-final.

Senegal briefly appeared to be in trouble from the off as former Chelsea defender Kalidou Koulibaly caught Lassine Sinayoko in the box with a late challenge, and was very fortunate to avoid giving away an early penalty.

But that was wake-up call enough for Pape Thiaw’s men, who quickly perked up but could not recreate the same flair as they did in the round of 16 defeat of Sudan.

They patiently probed but struggled to threaten Mali goalkeeper Djigui Diarra, but the Young Africans shot-stopper crumbled at his first major test, spilling a routine low cross directly into the path of the onrushing Illiman Ndiaye, who tapped in from a couple of yards out to score the easiest goal of his career.

Senegal’s comfort levels only seemed to increase after that. Mali attacked in fits and starts, but the match’s rhythm was largely disrupted after Ndiaye’s opener by a series of injuries and fouls.

This came to a head as Bissouma picked up a daft second yellow in injury time, leaving his team-mates to fight an uphill battle in the second 45 with their AFCON dreams on the line.

The rather pedestrian pace of play persisted into the second half, with Senegal doing just enough to maintain their lead. Edouard Mendy was again called into action by Sinayoko, though Mali could not produce any considerable threat.

After a dubious first-half performance, Diarra was renewed after the break. Senegal had plenty of opportunities to score a second, but he produced a pair of smart stops moments apart to deny Sadio Mane and Pathe Ciss with around 20 minutes remaining.

He was then well placed to deny Pathe Ciss in a one-on-one, keeping Mali’s fading hopes of progression alive, and made a further pair of full-stretch saves during seven minutes of injury time.

But the nine outfielders in front of him could not match his heroics, and Mali succumbed to a narrow defeat.