Mali 2-1 Burkina Faso: Sinayoko sink Stallions to soar Eagles
Recap
Stadium of Korhogo
Mali
Burkina Faso
(AFP) – Mali are into the quarter-finals of the Africa Cup of Nations for the first time since 2013 after a 2-1 victory over Burkina Faso. Lassine Sinayoko’s third goal of the tournament helped them to a narrow victory and a last-eight clash with tournament hosts Côte d’Ivoire.
It took no time at all for the Eagles to open the scoring, as after Amadou Haidara had hit the woodwork with a thumping head from Hamari Traoré’s cross, Edmond Tapsoba inadvertently clipped the rebound into his own net.
Just moments later, the defender nearly atoned for that error when he had a shot saved before Issoufou Dayo and Bertrand Traoré were also denied by goalkeeper Djigui Diarra.
At the other end, a thumping drive by Sinayoko was beaten away by Hervé Koffi at his near post before a dribbling effort from Kamory Doumbia crept just wide.
A number of other wayward efforts flew over the bar before the break, but Éric Chelle’s side doubled their advantage straight after half-time when Sinayoko beat the offside trap and raced through on goal before slotting through the goalkeeper, who should have done better at his near post.
Burkina Faso were given a lifeline back into the game when a VAR review led to a penalty being awarded against Kiki Kouyaté after a cross deflected onto his arm.
Traoré duly stepped up and converted his third spot-kick of the tournament after sending Diarra the wrong way. Cedric Badolo then had a shot saved as
Mali generally defended strongly though, refusing to allow their opponents the opportunity to get forward on too many occasions.
There was a heart-in-mouth moment in the 90th minute when Issoufou Dayo flicked Badolo’s free-kick home, only to be flagged offside.
Ultimately, Burkina Faso suffer an elimination from AFCON, failing to back up their run to the semi-finals two years ago, while Mali look forward to a quarter-final clash.
Results
| Club | 1st Half | 2nd Half | Goals | Possession |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mali | 1 | 1 | 2 | 56 |
| Burkina Faso | 0 | 1 | 1 | 44 |
MAN OF THE MATCH
🇿🇦 Teboho Mokoena 🇿🇦
He secured the win with a late goal and took the TotalEnergies Man of the Match. 💯#TotalEnergiesAFCON2023 | #MARRSA | @Football2Gether pic.twitter.com/I46euDAVZ6
— CAF_Online (@CAF_Online) January 30, 2024
MATCH STATISTICS
FULL-TIME STATISTICS
Mali 2-1 Burkina Faso
Bertrand Traore's penalty proved insufficient for the Burkinabé, succumbing to defeat after Edmond Tapsoba's own goal and a first-half strike from Lassine Sinayoko took the Eagles ahead.#AFCONWithMIAS#AFCON2023 #CAN2023 pic.twitter.com/ncHlhU428h
— Made In Africa Sport (@madeinafricaweb) January 31, 2024
