AFCON 2015: Mali, Guinea face ultimate lots after drawing 1-1


Mali and Guinea will enter a draw to see who moves into the quarterfinals of the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations after their final Group D match ended 1-1 at the Estadio De Mongomo on Wednesday night.

Mali started the better of the two sides and came close to scoring in the second minute when Abdoulaye Diaby drove into the box, but saw his powerful left-footed shot sail inches over the crossbar.

In the 13th minute Guinea were afforded the perfect opportunity to take the lead when the referee adjudged Salif Coulibaly to have handled the ball inside the box and pointed to the penalty spot.

Kevin Constant stepped up for Guinea and coolly slotted the ball home, cheekily chipping the keeper from the penalty spot.

In the 16th minute Mali were awarded a penalty of their own after the referee adjudged Baissama Sankoh to have handled the ball inside the box.

Seydou Keita stepped up for Mali, but saw his spot kick well-saved by Naby Yattara.
Mali continued to control the match after that, but struggled to break down a resilient Guinea defence.

The closest we came to finding another goal in the second half arrived in the 34th minute when Diaby unleashed a 24-yard thunderbolt, but saw his effort tipped over the post by the Guinea keeper.

Mali produced an instant response at the start of the second half as Modibo Maiga headed home a Diaby cross two minutes after the restart to draw the scores level at 1-1.
In the 53rd minute Naby Yattara had to come to Guinea's rescue again as he dove full stretch to his right to turn a Mamoutou N'Diaye long-range shot around the post.

Mali continued to dominate matters and came close again in the 76th minute when Molla Wague was allowed a free-header from a cross into the box, but his effort went wide of goal.

In the end neither side could find a winner as the game ended all-square.

The result means both teams finish in joint second place with three points and will go into a draw tomorrow (on Thursday) to see who goes through to the quarterfinals of the competition.

In the other group game Ivory Coast beat Cameroon 1-0 to seal their place in the knockout stages.

Guinea (1) 1 (Kevin Constant 15’ pen)
Mali (0) 1 (Modibo Maiga 47’)

Teams:

Guinea: Naby Yattara, Abdoulaye Cisse, Baissama Sankoh, Naby Keita, Issiaga Sylla (Djibril Tamsir Paye 58’), Kevin Constant (Abdoul Razzagui Camara 84’), Aboubacar Fofana, Lanfia Camara, Ibrahima Conte, Mohamed Yattara, Ibrahima Traoré (Seydouba Soumah 62’).

Mali: Germain Berthe, Molla Wague, Adama Tamboura, Drissa Diakite, Salif Coulibaly, Seydou Keita, Mamoutou N'Diaye (Abdou Traore 90’), Yacouba Sylla, Modibo Maiga, Abdoulaye Diaby (Bakary Sako 73’), Mustapha Yatabare (Sambou Yatabare 85’).

SOURCE: SuperSports