Senegal’s
Teranga Lions reached the Africa Cup of Nations semifinals for the first time
since 2006 when Idrissa Gueye scored to deliver a 1-0 last-eight win over Benin
in Cairo yesterday.
Everton midfielder Gueye struck on 70 minutes, side-footing the ball into the net from close range after being set up by Liverpool star Sadio Mane.
This was the first Cup of Nations match to use the VAR (video assistant referee) system and there were no controversial incidents.
Benin was reduced to 10 men in the closing stages when Olivier Verdon was given a straight red card for a last-defender foul.
Benin’s Khaled Adenon missed out due to a suspension and Seibou Mama and Jodel Dossou were benched with Seidou Baraze, Sessi D’Almeida and Steve Mounie taking their places.
This was only the third time the countries met in a competitive match with Senegal winning 1-0 at home and drawing 1-1 away in 2002 World Cup qualifying.
Senegal applied most of the early pressure with Benin content to sit back and soak it up before a small crowd at the 30 000-capacity 30 June Stadium in the Egyptian capital.
But the first scare for Benin was self-inflicted as goalkeeper Owolabi Kassifa fumbled a weak shot and had to swiftly regain possession as Mane darted forward.
Mickael Pote, the veteran Benin forward who bagged a brace in a group draw with Ghana, came agonisingly close to putting the Squirrels ahead midway through the opening half.
He cleverly back heeled a free-kick driven low into the box and the ball flew just wide with goalkeeper Alfred Gomis beaten.
A free-kick at the other end offered Kalidou Koulibaly a chance to break the deadlock, but he narrowly failed to connect with the ball after it eluded the defensive wall.
There was intense Senegal pressure as the opening half drew to a close with Verdon coming to the rescue by clearing a Henri Saivet cross.
Senegal did get the ball in the net nine minutes after halftime, but the Algerian referee blew for offside and VAR confirmed that his decision was correct.
A howler from Gomis nearly gifted Benin a mid-second-half lead as he miscued his clearance of a back-pass and the ball trickled just wide of the goal.
Soon after, Senegal was rewarded for their dominance of possession and territory when Gueye burst into the box and fired over Kassifa.
Benin were lucky not to fall further behind in the following few minutes as Senegal had a shot cleared off the line and Mane was denied by a marginal offside call.
Senegal will meet minnows Madagascar or Tunisia in the semi-finals on Sunday in Cairo. –Supersport
