Senegal 1-0 Zimbabwe: Mane spares blushes of depleted Teranga Lions in final seconds

Aliou
Cisse’s
side
were
without
as
many
as
six
“indisputable
starting
players”
due
to
a
COVID-19
outbreak,
which
impacted
the
likes
of
Edouard
Mendy
and
Kalidou
Koulibaly.

But
even
allowing
for
their
absences,
the
Teranga
Lions
failed
to
meet
expectations
for
much
of
the
match.

Keita
Balde
summed
up
their
performance
early
on,
wasting
one
of
few
clear
opportunities
when
shooting
over
from
close
range,
and
Mane
spurned
another
good
chance.

The
game
was
largely
played
at
a
pedestrian
pace
in
the
heat
of
Bafoussam,
but
Boulaye
Dia
sprung
into
action
14
minutes
from
time
and
looked
certain
to
square
to
Mane
for
a
tap-in,
only
for
Petros
Mhari
to
brilliantly
hold
on
to
the
squared
pass.

Zimbabwe
looked
set
to
hang
on,
but
in
the
final
10
seconds
of
stoppage
time,
Kelvin
Madzongwe
charged
down
a
shot
and
accidentally
handled
the
ball,
allowing
Liverpool
star
Mane
to
smash
home
the
resulting
penalty.