Senegal put down Equatorial Guinea's brief rebelliion in Yaoundé on Sunday night to set up a semi-final clash with Burkina Faso at the Africa Cup of Nations.
Leading through Famara Diedhiou's 28th minute goal, Aliou Cissé's men exerted control over their enterprising opponents but could not find another strike to douse their fire.
Five minutes after the restart at the Stade Ahmadou Ahidjo, Senegal received a warning.
Equatorial Guinea thought they had a penalty when Senegal skipper Kalidou Koulibaly handled the ball in the area.
But after checking with the video assistants, referee Victor Gomes overturned his decision.
Equaliser
Minutes later Equatorial Guinea were level. Pablo Ganet nudged the ball through to Jannick Buyla Sam in the area and his quick shot rolled past Senegal goalkeeper Edouard Mendy and into the right hand corner of the net.
It was a fitting reward for their endeavour and belief.
But parity lasted less 11 minutes.
Following a corner, Carlos Akapo and Saul Coco became entangled and in tandem botched the clearance to allow substitute Cheikhou Kouyate to nip in and flick the ball past goalkeeper Jesus Owono.
Buoyed by the their luck, Cissé's men looked for the third to kill off the game.
Slickness
It came with just over 20 minutes left and it was an adroit contrast to the slapstick preceding the second goal.
The ball was floated over to the left wing where Saliou Ciss collected it on his chest and transferred it to his feet without breaking stride.
He drove into the box, looked up and cut the ball back to Ismaila Sarr to slot home. As simple as it was classy.
Senegal, beaten finalists in 2019, will take on Burkina Faso on Wednesday in Yaoundé for a place in next Sunday's final.
