February 03, (THEWILL) – Abdou Diallo, Idrissa Gueye, and Sadio Mane all scored in Senegal’s 3-1 win over Burkina Faso on Wednesday to send the Lions of Teranga to their second consecutive Africa Cup of Nations final.
After scaling through their semi-final, Aliou Cisse’s team will face either Cameroon or Egypt in the final on Sunday.
Senegal believed they had been awarded a penalty late in the first half, but the video assistant referee (VAR) rescued Burkina Faso, with referee Bamlak Tessema Weyesa reversing his initial judgement as replays revealed Gueye’s strike had struck Edmond Tapsoba’s stomach rather than his hand.
In the 70th minute, the Lions of Teranga rightfully broke the deadlock when Paris Saint-Germain defender Diallo whirled on the six-yard box and sent a clean strike past substitute goalkeeper Sofiane Ouedraogo.
Six minutes later, Senegal extended their lead when Gueye tapped home from inside the penalty area after being set up by Mane.
Burkina Faso’s Ibrahim Toure pulled one back in the 82nd minute with an improvised knee finish to give the game a tense few minutes with a comeback looking likely.
But, it was not to be as Mane went from providing an assist to put the game to bed five minutes later with a stunning breakaway goal.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
