AFCON: Ivory Coast Stun Senegal, Zoom Into Quarter Final

Hosts Ivory Coast stunned Senegal at the Africa Cup of Nations on Monday, knocking out the reigning champions on penalties in the last 16 to keep their hopes of winning the title on home soil alive.

The Elephants scraped into the knockout phase with the worst record of the four best third-placed sides to advance, after finishing the first round with a humiliating 4-0 loss to Equatorial Guinea, their heaviest-ever home defeat.

It looked like a trying evening for Ivory Coast in Yamoussoukro as Senegal went ahead in the fourth minute when Habib Diallo brought down Sadio Mané’s cross from the left and finished emphatically.

It was the Ivorians who won a late penalty of their own, a VAR review showing that Nicolas Pépé was chopped down by Senegal goalkeeper Edouard Mendy.

Franck Kessié of Saudi club Al Ahli, who was dropped to the bench at kick-off, converted the penalty to force extra time.

With no further scoring, it came down to penalties, and Senegal’s Moussa Niakhaté was the only player to miss, seeing his effort strike the post.

Kessié then netted the decisive kick to take Ivory Coast through to a last-eight tie against Mali or Burkina Faso in the central city of Bouake on Saturday.