African Cup: Senegal leads its group… and Cameroon accompanies it
Abdoulaye Seck and Iliman Ndiaye scored two goals in the second half to lead Senegal to a 2-0 victory over Guinea, on Tuesday, and seize the top spot in Group C of the African Cup of Nations held in Côte d’Ivoire, which witnessed a dramatic 3-2 victory for Cameroon over Gambia to join the ranks of the finalists. For the second round; It meets Nigeria.
The defending champion Senegal had already qualified for the second round at the end of the second round after topping the group with six points by winning its first two matches over Gambia and Cameroon.
Likewise, the Guinean national team, which was occupying second place with four points on Monday, qualified as one of the best four teams with at least third place, after the first and second group competitions concluded yesterday with Côte d’Ivoire in third place in Group A with three points, and Ghana occupying the position. Third place in the second group with two points.
However, the Senegalese team decided its match today against Guinea with two unanswered goals, making it the only team to achieve the full score (nine points) in the first round with three victories.
The Guinean team’s tally stopped at four points and fell to third place, while its Cameroonian counterpart qualified from second place with four points.
The Cameroonian team rose from second place, as it tied with its Guinean counterpart in the number of points, and their match ended in a 1-1 draw and tied in overall goal difference. Cameroon excelled in the number of goals scored in the tournament, as it scored five goals, while Guinea scored only two goals.
Excitement was the title of the confrontation between Cameroon and Gambia, as uncertainty surrounded the fate of the two teams in the tournament until the final seconds of the match.
The Cameroonian national team took the lead with a goal scored by Carl Toko Ekambi, a Saudi Abha club player, in the 56th minute, then Gambia equalized with a goal by Able Gallo in the 72nd minute.
Gambia then took the lead with a goal scored by Ebrima Kohli in the 85th minute, then Cameroon tipped the scales in its favor with two goals scored by Gambia’s James Gomez by mistake against his country in the 87th minute, and by Christopher Waugh in the first minute of stoppage time.
The match between Senegal and Guinea began with the Guinean national team controlling it, and the national team showed ambition in scoring early, but its Senegalese counterpart intensified its focus on defensive insurance during the testing phase.
As the first minutes passed, the Senegalese team entered the atmosphere of the match and began to attack, but the performance of the two teams was characterized by an average pace and neither of them rushed to attack.
Senegal’s first attacking attempts came from Abdullah Seck, Nambales Mendy and Ismaila Sarr, but without any real threat to Guinea’s goal.
Senegalese Mendy shot a powerful ball from outside the penalty area in the 29th minute, but the defense sent it to a corner.
The match seemed to be very equal between the two teams, and the pace of play decreased as each team focused on defensive insurance.
Play was stopped in the last seconds of the first half after skirmishes broke out between the players of the two teams due to violent intervention by Senegalese Ismail Jacobs against Naby Keita, but the referee took control of the situation and issued a yellow card to Jacobs, then indicated to continue playing.
The pace of play increased at the beginning of the second half, and Sadio Mane almost gave Senegal the lead in the 56th minute, but he strangely wasted an opportunity after he launched a quick counterattack and was alone with the goalkeeper, but he eventually shot the ball next to the post, even though the net was empty.
In the 62nd minute, the Senegalese team broke the silence in the match, and opened the scoring through Sek, who received the ball from a free kick and headed it into the net.
The Guinean team increased its pressure in search of an equaliser, but found it difficult to overcome the cohesion and alertness of the Senegalese defence. In the first minute of stoppage time, Elimane Ndiaye received a cross at the edge of the penalty area in the absence of defensive control, and shot the ball into the net, declaring Senegal’s victory 2-0.
2024-01-23 20:15:59
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