Senegal beat Egypt on penalties to win maiden AFCON title
Senegal won their maiden Africa Cup of Nations title, beating Egypt 4-2 on penalties after the match ended 0-0. Egypt had earlier saved a Sadio Mane penalty in the first half. Egypt keeper Gabaski had also made three good saves from Senegal's Bamba Dieng in extra-time. However, he couldn't help his side win another shootout as Senegal triumphed. Here's more.
Interestingly, all four of Egypt's knockout games at the tournament went the distance. Mohamed Salah' side had earlier beaten Ivory Coast and hosts Cameroon enroute to the final. Gabaski had saved four penalties at the tournament as this match versus Senegal went to a shootout. However, he couldn't see out the same as Senegal stood tall to defy the seven-time champions.
Kalidou Koulibaly scored the opening penalty with Ahmed Sayed equaling for Egypt. Abdou Diallo scored next as Mohamed Abdelmonem erred, seeing his penalty hit the left-hand post and bounce away, Gabaski immediately denied Bouna Sarr to keep things interesting. Marwan Hamdi and Bamba Dieng scored as Mohanad Lasheen missed his shot. Liverpool forward Mane hit the ball into the bottom left-hand corner next.
As per Opta, six of the last 12 AFCON finals have gone to extra time, five of which have been after a 0-0 draw in 90 minutes. Mane is the first player to both take and miss a penalty in an African Cup of Nations final since Didier Drogba for Ivory Coast against Zambia in 2012.
Senegal have won their maiden Africa Cup of Nations title in what was their 16th participation in the tournament. They have become the 15th different nation to win the competition. Prior to this, Senegal had finished runner-up on two occasions (2002 and 2019).
