Mali are into the quarter-finals of the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) for the first time since 2013 after a 2-1 victory over Burkina Faso. Lassine Sinayoko’s third goal of the tournament helped them to a narrow victory and a last-eight clash with tournament hosts the Ivory Coast.
It took no time at all for the Eagles to open the scoring, as after Amadou Haidara had hit the woodwork with a thumping head from Hamari Traoré’s cross, Edmond Tapsoba inadvertently clipped the rebound into his own net. Just moments later, the defender nearly atoned for that error when he had a shot saved before Issoufou Dayo and Bertrand Traoré were also denied by goalkeeper Djigui Diarra.
At the other end, a thumping drive by Sinayoko was beaten away by Hervé Koffi at his near post before a dribbling effort from Kamory Doumbia crept just wide. A number of other wayward efforts flew over the bar before the break, but Éric Chelle’s side doubled their advantage straight after HT when Sinayoko beat the offside trap and raced through on goal before slotting through the goalkeeper, who should have done better at his near post.
Burkina Faso were given a lifeline back into the game when a VAR review led to a penalty being awarded against Kiki Kouyaté after a cross deflected onto his arm. Traoré duly stepped up and converted his third spot-kick of the tournament after sending Diarra the wrong way. Cedric Badolo then had a shot saved as
Mali generally defended strongly though, refusing to allow their opponents the opportunity to get forward on too many occasions. There was a heart-in-mouth moment in the 90th minute when Issoufou Dayo flicked Badolo’s free-kick home, only to be flagged offside. Ultimately, Burkina Faso suffer an elimination from AFCON, failing to back up their run to the semi-finals two years ago, while Mali look forward to a quarter-final clash.
