Mali, Guinea enter draw for knockout

afconGuinea 1-1 Mali
Cameroon 0-1 Cote d’IvoireMali and Guinea will enter a draw to see who moves into the quarter-finals of the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations after their final Group D match ended 1-1 at the Estadio De Mongomo yesterday.

The result combined with Cote d’Ivoire’s 1-0 win over Cameroon in the other group game sees Mali and Guinea finish joint second and on the same goal difference which means Caf will conduct a draw today to see who goes through to the quarter-finals.

Max Gradel’s superb long-range strike shot Cote d’Ivoire top of Group D while Cameroon finished bottom.

The match was a straight shoot-out for a place in the Last 8 as all teams in the pool entered the final round of matches with two points, an even goal-difference and the same number of goals scored.

The Ivorians have now set up a quarter-final against Algeria in Malabo on Sunday.

Mali came out the blocks firing with Abdoulaye Diaby driving into the box as early as the second minute, but he saw his 16-yard effort skim the wrong side of the crossbar.

Four minutes later Diaby was in the thick of the action again when he pounced on a loose ball inside the Guinea box following a goalmouth scramble, but his six-yard shot was deflected inches wide.

Guinea came into the game in the 13th minute when the referee awarded them a penalty for a handball inside the box by Mali’s Salif Coulibaly.

Kevin Constant stepped up to give his side the lead from the spot in the 15th minute, 1-0.

A minute later Mali were afforded the perfect opportunity to pull a goal back when the referee awarded a second penalty, this time adjudging Baissama Sankoh to have handled the ball inside the Guinea box.

Seydou Keita stepped up for Mail, but saw his penalty saved by Naby Yattara.

The Guinea keeper was at his best again in the 34th minute when he produced a great acrobatic save to tip a 30-yard pile-driver from Diaby over the crossbar.

The half ended 1-0 in favour of Guinea.

Mali drew level two minutes into the second half when a right wing cross from Diaby was headed home by Modibo Maiga, 1-1.

Only the brilliance of the Guinea keeper kept the scores level in the 53rd minute when a fingertip save from Yattara saw him deny Mamoutou N’Diaye from 22-yards out.

Mali continued to dominate proceedings after that, but could not find a winner as the game ended 1-1.

 

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