Thank you for reading – congratulations to Senegal - and indeed congratulations to Equatorial Guinea for a fantastic run into the last eight. Bye for now.
Our match report is here:
Here is Jonathan Wilson’s report from the earlier game, when Mohamed Salah made the difference for Egypt against Morocco:
Full-time! Senegal 3-1 Equatorial Guinea
Kouyate and Sarr came off the bench to settle it for Senegal. They are into the last four, where they will face Burkina Faso on Wednesday. On Thursday, Cameroon take on Egypt in the second semi-final. Equatorial Guinea gave them a serious test, and Senegal threatened to lose it completely at one point, but they came through.
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90 min +3: Oba tries to buy a penalty after a challenge by Koulibaly. No joy.
90 min +1: Buyla cracks a shot from long range. No luck.
90 min: Belima, one of the Equatorial Guinea subs, tries one from distance. It’s well wide. We’ll have three minutes minimum of injury time.
Updated
88 min: The Equatorial Guinea players, on the bench, look distraught. It’s been an incredible journey for them, but it’s coming to an end, unless they can find an improbable comeback in the next two or three minutes.
85 min: Oba, Balboa, Eneme, Belima and Bikoro have all come on for Equatorial Guinea now. Sarr has a sight of goal from distance, and hammers a shot which flies narrowly over the bar.
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84 min: Oba, who has just come on for Equatorial Guinea, shoots low from close range and Mendy saves!
That third Senegal goal is all about the quality of the left-back, Saliou Ciss. A free-kick was belted diagonally over the top from defence. Sprinting down his wing, Ciss takes the ball from the air with a sublime touch on his chest ... sprints into the area ... and squares for Sarr, who unerringly tucks the ball into the waiting net. That was class.
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Goal! 77 min: Senegal 3-1 Equatorial Guinea (Sarr)
The Watford man tucks home the third.
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76 min: Equatorial Guinea pass the ball around at the back, before attacking down their left wing. Ndong tries to cross but no one can get on the end of it. Time is on Senegal’s side, and their opponents haven’t troubled them significantly for a while now.
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73 min: Senegal are back in the ascendancy. Collectively, they looked truly rattled by conceding the goal. But not they are back on the front foot, with Kouyate’s goal sending them into the semi-finals as it stands. But they wouldn’t say no to a third ...
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That was an unfortunate goal for Equatorial Guinea to concede. After a corner was half-cleared but then headed back into the danger area, Coco and Akapo went for the same ball and got in each other’s way on the edge of the six yard box. The ball spooned up off the two of them, and Kouyate, who had literally just come on, was able to tap in beyond Owono.
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Goal! 68 min: Senegal 2-1 Equatorial Guinea (Kouyate)
He’s just come on ... and he’s scored!
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67 min: Senegal launch it into the box via a free-kick from the right. Kouyate is lurking but it’s cleared.
65 min: More changes for Senegal: Cheikhou Kouyate comes on along with Bamba Dieng. Pape Gueye and the goalscorer, Diedhiou, are gone.
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63 min: Ismaila Sarr, of Watford, has been introduced into the action for Dia for Senegal. Aliou Cissé, the coach, mixes it up.
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59 min: The supposed minnows are growing into sharks. Akapo now cracks a pacy ball into the danger zone. Nsue tries to reach it at the far post but he narrowly fails. The atmosphere in the stadium is raucous, but can you imagine what it must be like in Equatorial Guinea as people watch on TV??! They must be going bonkers.
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Goal! 57 min: Senegal 1-1 Equatorial Guinea (Buyla)
They are back on terms! What a lovely goal. Ganet slides a ball into the feet of Buyla, lurking in the penalty area. He takes it incredibly early, killing the ball with an instant touch, then immediately hitting a low shot, with the outside of his boot, that rolls into the far corner, well beyond the reach of Mendy. Cracking goal, and we’ve got a game on here ... Senegal’s defending ability seems to have disappeared.
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50 min: Penalty overturned by VAR!
No penalty! The ref has a look, and immediately decides that it’s no penalty after a very brief look at the screen. Players from both teams are squaring up to each other as the recriminations continue. The referee has a word with Koulibaly and Nsue, from opposing teams, and asks them to calm things down a bit. As Guy Mowbray is saying on commentary on the BBC, by the current law as it’s applied, that did look like a pen.
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49 min: Penalty to Equatorial Guinea!!
Drama! Handball by Koulibaly! It was Edu who clipped the ball towards the Napoli man, on the edge of the box ... And it’s going to be checked ...
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47 min: An early free-kick for Senegal. Idrissa Gueye belts it from distance, but he’s never over the top of it, and it screams high over the goal.
Second half kick-off!
Can Senegal make this game safe, or will Equatorial Guinea get back on terms? Let’s see.
Half-time reading:
Half-time! Senegal 1-0 Equatorial Guinea
Edú whips a vicious ball into the Senegal area. Mendy punches clear, and seconds later, the referee blows it up for half-time. See you soon for more.
42 min: Ganet gets up and hits the free-kick himself. It’s straight into the wall.
42 min: Ganet is fouled by Idrissa Gueye on the edge of the box. A hint of a chance for Equatorial Guinea ...
40 min: Sarr makes progress on the Senegal right and tries to cross low. There is more last-ditch defending from Equatorial Guinea. Diedhiou tries a knock-down at the far post in the next passage of play. Mane is clattered seconds later as he bears down on the penalty area. Equatorial Guinea are being outclassed at the moment. If it goes to 2-0, you fear for them.
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37 min: Nampalys Mendy belts an excellent, powerful shot from distance which is destined for the top corner. Owono saves. But it was a tester.
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36 min: Machin is booked for a ludicrous push in the back of Pape Gueye. He tries to shake hands afterwards, but is ignored. Is panic starting to set in in the Equatorial Guinea defence?
33 min: It’s opening up. And it’s all hands on deck for Equatorial Guinea, with Senegal moving through the gears in attack. Mane makes a damaging run on the left. He is stopped in the nick of time. Senegal come again ... Mane shows lovely footwork to find the space to cross with the goal gaping ... but Equatorial Guinea just manage to clear!
32 min: Ciss makes more inroads down the Senegal left. He turns a ball into the danger zone, low, and Akapo clears for a corner.
That was a simple, but incredibly effective move. Ciss had the ball on the left touchline. He pinged a ball into the feet of Mane. Mane turned and Diedhiou was already on the move in front of him. The delivery was perfect – low and into the path of Diedhiou – and he had no hesitation in sliding in a low finish.
GOAL! 27 min: Senegal 1-0 Equatorial Guinea (Diedhiou)
There it is! Diedhiou tucks away a smart finish at the near post after an exquisite, slide-rule pass from his strike colleague Mane.
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26 min: Equatorial Guinea whip a free-kick into the area. Mendy claims comfortably.
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24 min: This one has yet to take off. Both teams are grappling with each other, feeling one another out to a certain extent. And with so much on the line – a place in the last four of the Africa Cup of Nations – neither seems prepared to commit too many men forward.
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20 min: The noise from the crowd is constant, featuring a persistent brass section. It’s a cracking atmosphere at the Ahmadou Ahidjo Stadium. Now, Diedhiou chases a fine ball over the top for Senegal and does well to gather it. He turns in the penalty area and whips a shot towards the far post, but it’s lacking in power, and Owono drops to his left to save.
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17 min: Mane breaks down the left after a one-two and cuts the ball back. A fine bit of defending from Equatorial Guinea in the middle, though, with a shot blocked, ends the danger. Pape Gueye is then booked for a cynical foul when Equatorial Guinea try to break down field.
“Evening,” emails Dean. “It seems quite possible that Egypt could end up facing Senegal and therefore Salah versus Mané in the final. There has plainly been some competition between them at LFC for goal scoring which has, at times, even looked to be somewhat detrimental to the team ethic. It would be fascinating to watch this rivalry into a game where they are actually on different sides.”
15 min: Equatorial Guinea mount another wave of attacking. They are definitely packing their defence, as a general rule, but they’re also happy to try and get men forward on occasion.
13 min: Idrissa Gueye curls a sweetly-struck free-kick goalwards. It flashes wide, but only just. Owono hadn’t moved – either he calculated it was going wide, or was simply hopelessly beaten by the effort.
11 min: Miranda fouls Mane in a central position outside the area. He remonstrates with the referee, but regardless, it’s a free-kick in a dangerous spot from Equatorial Guinea’s point of view.
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9 min: Ciss crunches into an aerial challenge with Akapo. Akapo looks in considerable pain after, I think, taking an elbow to the head. Ciss is the first player to go in the referee’s notebook.
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7 min: Well, that has showed me ... Equatorial Guinea attack down the left. Nsue crosses from the left and only a good piece of defending in the middle stops a clear chance.
4 min: The early signs, in terms of how Equatorial Guinea are setting up, aren’t great in terms of this being an open and entertaining game. They are clearly aiming to contain Senegal and hit them on the break.
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2 min: Diedhiou of Senegal buys a couple of yards of space about 35 yards from goal. The ball sits up nicely, and he attempts an extremely ambitious shot which flies wildly high and wide. Iban Edu has a crack at the other end, but that too is high over the bar.
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First half kick-off!
Senegal get the match under way, and enjoy a spell of possession in their opponent’s half to begin with.
The Equatorial Guinea anthem ends and the players gee each other up, clapping, shouting and generally making it clear that they are not here to make up the numbers.
The teams are out on the pitch, and it’s time for the national anthems. Senegal’s first. The camera zooms in immediately on Sadio Mane, then runs along the rest of the side, Mendy of Chelsea standing alongside the captain, Koulibaly.
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Cameroon will face Egypt in the semi-final on the other side of the draw. Burkina Faso await the winner of this evening’s match between Senegal and Equatorial Guinea. That’ll be Senegal, won’t it? Unless we see a seismic shock in the next couple of hours.
Kalidou Koulibaly there, looking resplendent in that very fetching green Senegal kit:
TEAM NEWS 📝#TeamSenegal and #TeamEquatorialGuinea reveal their lineup for #SENGNQ #TotalEnergiesAFCON2021 | #AFCON2021 pic.twitter.com/hG8yjaSYbo
— #TotalEnergiesAFCON2021 🏆 (@CAF_Online) January 30, 2022
Teams
Sadio Mane starts for Senegal, despite that worrying head injury during the week in the round of 16 match against Cape Verde. Edouard Mendy plays, and perhaps most importantly, Kalidou Koulibaly of Napoli is in central defence.
Senegal: Edouard Mendy, Sarr, Ciss, Nampalys Mendy, Koulibaly, Diallo, Idrissa Gueye, Pape Gueye, Diedhiou, Dia, Mane
Equatorial Guinea: Owono, Akapo, Ndong, Ganet, Obiang, Coco, Salvador, Machin, Nsue, Miranda, Buyla
Updated
“Condolences to families of the departed spectators,” read a message on the big screens at either end during a well-observed, if brief, period of silence before kick-off. The balance required of the competition’s organisers was one that honoured the eight who died in the crush at Olembé and acknowledged the systemic failings that brought it about, while keeping the show on the road.
A solid defence plus Mohamed Salah equals progress. It might not be particularly edifying or good to watch but it does seem to work. This was a dismal game, two hours of spoiling with a dusting of football but, in the football that was played, Salah was decisive. He scored the equaliser and set up the winner, so Egypt will meet Cameroon in Thursday’s semi-final, a meeting of the two most successful sides in Cup of Nation’s history.
Preamble
Senegal are not the only side at this tournament whose campaign was hit by an outbreak of Covid-19, but they are still standing, and are the overwhelming favourites to progress into the semi-finals at the expense of Equatorial Guinea today.
Sadio Mané suffered a nasty blow to the head in their win against Cape Verde in the last 16: it seems he has been declared fit to play today, and if Senegal are able to call on their big guns, it is hard to imagine anything other than a victory for them.
Equatorial Guinea came through a penalty shoot-out win after a goalless draw against Mali on Wednesday. The 20-year-old goalkeeper Jesus Owono made the decisive save in that shoot-out. Can their run of upsets continue? We’re about to find out.
Team news and pre-match reading coming up. Kick-off: 7pm UK
