Last season it was a Senegal – Egypt finale and in this edition of AFCON, both teams are out after the Round of 16, and both teams are out after a penalty shootout. The hosts are celebrating Franck Kessie, who scored two most important goals in this game and not only sent Ivory Coast to the quarterfinals, but also eliminated AFCON champions Senegal in the process! It was not to suppose to be like this, since the Elephants were among the favorites and have a fantastic squad and yet they have managed to qualify to the knockout stage only due to other teams’ failures and had a massive task ahead of them in the Round of 16. They were without a coach and in terrible form and they were up against arguably the best team of the tournament who recorded all three wins and played like a true champion.REIGNING CHAMPIONS SENEGAL ARE OUT OF AFCON AFTER LOSING TO HOSTS IVORY COAST 5-4 ON PENALTIES 😳 pic.twitter.com/FNPO3Zi1Ce— ESPN Africa (@ESPNAfrica) January 29, 2024 But Ivory Coast finally woke up, attacked even thou they were one goal behind and equalized four minutes from the final whistle to setup a penalty shootout after 1-1 in regular time, in which Franck Kessie scored the decisive penalty, after Nottingham Forest’s Moussa Niakhaté missed one. Caretaker coach Emerse Faé who was an assistant coach to the sacked Jean-Louis Gasset recorded his first win but it will remain unclear if the benching of Kessie and former Arsenal flop Nicolas Pepe was a tactical idea or just a rookie mistake. Those two players, along with Sebastien Haller were introduced only half and hour before the end of the game (Kessie played just 15 minutes), but changed the game completely as all three were in action when Senegal keeper Edouard Mendy contacted Pepe in the penalty area and allowed Kessie to equalize. All three forwards were precise 30 minutes later from the spot and gave their fans a win and a trip to the quarterfinals where they will face either Mali or Burkina Faso. Full penalty shoutoutIvorycoast vs Senegal@TotalAFCON2023 pic.twitter.com/4VTpznxGA2— Ahmadi BILIBWA (@Dizo_Bilibwa) January 29, 2024 The start of the match was the continuation of the form in which both teams were so far. Senegal opened the scoring after only four minutes, when Sadio Mane assisted perfectly to former Strasbourg player Habib Diallo’s Former Liverpool forward has assisted five goals across the last two AFCONs, more than any other player and this was his third assist in this tournament. From that moment on, the hosts took the initiative but couldn’t seriously attack Senegal who was very disciplined in defense, and defended with all 11 men in their half of the field. The Teranga Lions had one more chance at the end of the half, but Mane – Sarr combo didn’t manage to score the second one. AFCON 2023: Late Mendes penalty sends Cape Verde to the last eightThe second half turned out to be more exciting that the first 45 minutes, as Ivory Coast continued to be better but both teams created chances. First serious opportunities arose for the Elephants when Franck Kessie and Niklas Pepe came in and it was Al Ahli midfielder with a great chance, but Edouard Mendy was there to stop it marvelously. Former Chelsea man again denied the hosts to score, and this time it was a save after Pepe’s shot. On the other side Mane had a chance to put this game away in the 75th minute, but missed it. The punishment came eight minutes later, when Mendy took down Pepe in the penalty area. The referee waved away the appeals initially, and even booked Pepe, but he the VAR has instructed the official to go to the screen and he realized his mistake. Penalty was rewarded and Kessie was there to send the game into overtime. Mane could have helped his team once again, but failed to score in the first overtime so the game went to the penalties, and all five penalty takers from the Ivory Coast were cool as ice. AFCON 2023 – LAST 16SaturdayAngola – Namibia 3-0 (2-0)/Dala 38, 43 Mabululu 66/Nigeria – Cameroon 1-0 (0-0)/Lookman 36/SundayEquatorial Guinea – Guinea 0-1 (0-0)/Bayo 90+8/Egypt – Dr Congo 1-1 (1-1) penalties 7-8/Mohamed (p) 45+1 – Elia 37/MondayCape Verde – Mauritania 1-0 (0-0)/Mendes (p) 86/Senegal – Ivory Coast 1-1 (1-0) (4-5 on penalties)/Diallo 4 – Kessie (p) 86/Tuesday20:00: (2.30) Mali (3.10) Burkina Faso (3.40)23:00: (1.62) Morocco (3.50) S.Africa (6.50)***odds are subject to change***
