After the controversial sacking of Aliou Sisse, the AFCON 2021 champions are back on track. To be totally fair, they managed two consecutive wins over Malawi allright, but we are talking about a team which managed only one win in the last six games in all competition, and the Flames are yet to record a point from their four AFCON qualifying matchups and are bottom of Group L at the moment. Still, a win is a win and after a home win 4-0 on Friday, the Lions of Teranga managed a second one 1-0 with the caretaker manager Pape Thiaw in charge and secured another participation in the AFCON tournament.Sadio Mané 🇸🇳 wins it for Senegal!A free kick strike in the final moments clinches a victory for the Lions of Teranga in Malawi 🇲🇼 from star Sadio Mané!Senegal 🇸🇳 join Burkina Faso 🇧🇫 in qualifying for #AFCON2025 out of Group L courtesy of the goal!#CAN2025 #AFCONQ2025… pic.twitter.com/EJu2nxSdZi— Pan-Africa Football (@PanAfricaFooty) October 15, 2024 It was former Liverpool forward Sadio Mane who had to secure all three points in the 96th minute, as the guests just couldn‘t find the net throughout the entire match. There were two reasons for this – Mane‘s misses and the total deconcentrating of his colleagues. Many times Al Nassr‘s winger broke down from the left only to find nobody in the goal area or, like in the 37th minute, two players who couldn‘t decide which one will shoot, letting the ball eventually go out for a throw in. In the end, a free kick in the last seconds of the match was the final opportunity for Mane and he finally used it. Before that, he missed at least three opportunities to score, forcing the ball just near the post. It is fascinating that players like Idrissa Gueye, Pape Matar Sarr, Habib Diarra, Boulaye Dia or Nicolas Jackson failed to score altogether. Senegal watched Burkina Faso—current leaders of Group J—book their AFCON spot with a 2-0 victory over Burundi earlier today they joined them with a tight win over Malawi.AFRICA CUP OF NATIONS – QUALIFIERSTuesdayChad – Zambia 0-1 (0-0)/Musonda 70/Lesotho – Gabon 0-2 (0-0)/Babicka 55, Effaghe 84/Malawi – Senegal 0-1 (0-0)/Mane 90+6/South Sudan – Uganda 1-2 (1-1)/Juma 21 – Omedi 15, Leku 66 og/Sudan – Ghana 2-0 (0-0)/Al-Tash 62, Abdel Rahman 65/Tanzania – Dr Congo 0-2 (0-0)/Elia 88, 90+4/19.00: (3.80) Botswana (2.90) Cape Verde (2.05)19.00: (5.70) Congo (3.60) S.Africa (1.67)19.00: (4.30) Guinea B. (3.25) Mali (1.85)19.00: (5.30) Mauritania (3.40) Egypt (1.67)19.00: (6.75) Niger (3.45) Angola (1.55)19.00: (2.65) Rwanda (2.90) Benin (2.80)19.00: (13.0) Sierra Leone (5.50) Ivory Coast (1.22)22.00: (22.0) Cental African Republic (10.5) Morocco (1.10)22.00: (6.25) Comores (3.50) Tunisia (1.65)22.00: (7.25) Ethiopia (3.60) Guinea (1.50)***odds are subject to change***
