Egypt Eliminate Ivory Coast, Equatorial Guinea Stun Mali
27 January, 2022
Equatorial Guinea 0-0 Mali (Mali won on penalties)
Mali have been knocked out of the Africa Cup of Nations after suffering a penalty shoot-out loss to Equatorial Guinea, who advance to the quarter-finals.
The Eagles made one change from the win over Mauritiania as Mohamed Camara was drafted into the midfield, with Adama Traore dropping to the bench.
The Malians nearly got off to the perfect start when Ibrahima Kone turned his marker in the box before firing inches wide of the upright.
Guinea, meanwhile, came into the clash in high spirits after securing wins over Algeria and Sierra Leone but they struggled to carve out any serious threats.
Mali were given a lifeline five minutes before the break when the referee awarded a penalty for Josete Miranda's foul on Doumbia. However, the referee overturned his decision after consulting with the Video Assistant Referee (VAR).
The Eagles should have opened the scoring on 58 minutes when Yves Bissouma teed up Camara in the box but with only the goalkeeper to beat, the midfielder blazed over from 10 yards out. With Mali struggling to get the breakthrough, Adama Noss Traore and Moussa Djenepo were introduced for the final 20 minutes in place of Adama Malouda Traore and Bissouma.
However, the changes failed to make the desired impact in the latter stages of the half as the would get ready for 30 minutes of extra-time after regulation time ended goalless.
In similar fashion to the Wednesday's earlier Last 16 clash, the game would be decided by a penalty shoot-out although it went to sudden death as Equatorial Guinea prevailed 6-5 to cause one of the upsets of the tournament.
Ivory Coast 0-0 Egypt (Egypt won on penalties)
Egypt advanced to the quarter-finals of the Africa Cup of Nations after defeating Cote d'Ivoire 5-4 on penalties on Wednesday evening.
The Elephants kept faith with Nicolas Pepe, Sebastian Haller and Max Gradel in the attack, while Eric Bailly returned to the defence in place of Odilon Kossounou.
The game got off to a cagey affair as both sides, although the Pharaohs nearly got the breakthrough on 17 minutes when Omar Marmoush hit the crossbar with a strike from distance.
Cote d'Ivoire were dealt a major blow on 29 minutes when talisman Franck Kessie was forced off with some discomfort, with coach Beaumelle bringing on Serey Die.
The Elephants nearly got the opening goal 10 minutes later when Ibrahim Sangare meet a cross from the left flank with a powerful header, but Egyptian shot-stopper Mohammed El Shenawy pulled off a fine reflex save.
Mohamed Salah, who had a quiet first half, caused a bit of trouble for the Ivorians in the second as he set up a glorious chance for El Sulya before the hour mark, but the latter blazed over from close range.
El Shenawy was called upon at the other end on 65 minutes to keep out towering header from Haller after the Egypt defence was caught napping.
Both sides opted to re-shuffle their pack for the final 20 minutes, as Wilfried Zaha and Jeremie Boga came on for the Ivorians while Egypt brought on Trezeguet.
Neither side were able to find the breakthrough in the latter stages, forcing the game to extra-time but Egypt had make do without El Shenway who picked up an injury in the 88th minute and was replaced by Mohamed Gabal.
Both Egypt and Ivory Coast managed to carve out half chances in extra-time, but neither could find the back of the net as the game was to be decided by a penalty shoot-out, where Egypt held their nerve to win 5-4 after Bailly had his spot-kick saved.
Source: www.soccerladuma.co.za