10-man Uganda Cranes held Mali to a barren draw in their second World Cup Qualifier Group E match at a wet St Mary’s Stadium, Kitende to leave the group open.Milutin Sredojević’s charges had to play for more than 20 minutes with one man less after Murshid Juuko was sent off in the 66th minute leaving his team to battle for at least a point with a numerical disadvantage.The game was characterized by few scoring chances, with the best of them coming from set plays and in favor of Mali but the visitors could not take their chances even after Uganda’s red card.FulltimePoints shared#UGAMLI pic.twitter.com/aal9NfIDpP— FUFA (@OfficialFUFA) September 6, 2021 It was a fairly balanced affair as the two teams went into the break on a deadlock.Mali paraded a star-studded side but Uganda gave their best though they failed to capitalize on their home advantage to pick the maximum points and had to settle for a second scoreless draw after playing to the same result in Nairobi last week against Harambee Stars.Micho had to formulate something that would assure them of at least a point after the red card and that came with a team overhaul, changing the entire team from midfield and sparing only Khalid Aucho.No breakthrough at the break.#UGAMLI#WorldCup#WCQ pic.twitter.com/RjqThcb82J— FUFA (@OfficialFUFA) September 6, 2021 Emmanuel Okwi, Joseph Ochaya, Derrick Nsibambi, Byaruhanga Bobosi, and Milton Karisa all made way for Innocent Wafula, Mustafa Kizza, Stephen Mukwala, Moses Waiswa, and Ibrahim Orit.Though the result sees Mali continue to top the group with four points, it leaves the group open and maintain’s Kenya’s hopes of qualifying for the World Cup next year as they are within reach.Kenya played tp a 1-all draw on Sunday against Rwanda at Kigali and moved to second on the table with two points and coach Jacob Ghost Mulee believes that Kenya is still in the equation for the 2022 Qatar World cup.Harambee Stars World Cup dream still alive, says GhostKenya will play Mali in the October international window, starting out away and completing the fixture in Nairobi before playing the last two matches against Uganda away and Rwanda at home in November.Elsewhere, Niger handed Djibouti their second defeat in the qualifiers after beating them 4-2 as Victorien Adebayor scored a brace while Amadou Wonkoye and Amadou Sabo scoring a goal each with Anas Farah Ali and Warsama Hassan scoring the consolation goals for Djibouti.Benin and DRC Congo played to a barren draw in their second Group J match to ascend to the top in that order albeit temporarily.
