Sadio Mane continued his brilliant goalscoring form with his first two of the Africa Cup of Nations on Monday, but a hat-trick evaded him in Senegal’s 3-0 win.
Senegal made light work of Kenya in Cairo in their final game of Group C, finishing second to set up a last-16 clash with Uganda on July 5.
Mane started his second game of the tournament after missing the opening 2-0 victory over Tanzania due to suspension, and joined Henri Saivet, Ismaila Sarr and M’Baye Niang in a four-man attack.
Like at Liverpool, he took up his duties on the left wing, and after scoring seven braces for the Reds in 2018/19, netted another double on the way to a comfortable victory.
This came after his first-half penalty was saved as Kenya ‘keeper Matasi Patrick dived correctly to his right to make the stop:
Sadio Mane's penalty is SAVED! ??
The Liverpool forward has missed a great opportunity to give Senegal the lead against Kenya…#AFCON2019 pic.twitter.com/mzp0S2CAgK
— Eurosport UK (@Eurosport_UK) 1 July 2019
Mane puffed out his cheeks with a smile in the aftermath, and persevered as ever with Senegal taking a stranglehold on the game after the break.
The first blow came with a volley from Sarr, before a big clearance following a Kenya corner saw Mane one-on-one with Mohamed Musa on the counter as the ball dropped on the edge of the centre circle.
Mane outmuscled Musa on the bounce, surged forward with composure and slotted it right-footed past Patrick to make it 2-0:
Oh Mane, Mane! ?
The Liverpool forward finishes off a "classy counter" to double the lead for Senegal ??#AFCON2019 pic.twitter.com/0GijeU9LbJ
— Eurosport UK (@Eurosport_UK) 1 July 2019
Things only got worse for Kenya five minutes later as Philemon Otieno received his second yellow card of the game for bringing down Sarr in the penalty area.
This provided Mane with an opportunity to redeem his early failure, and to his credit he beat Patrick at the second time of asking.
The goalkeeper still dived the right way, but was thwarted by the 27-year-old’s power and placement:
29 min: Mane has penalty saved
71 min: Mane scores
78 min: Mane steps up to take a second penalty… and scores!He just needed a bit of confidence… ?#AFCON2019 pic.twitter.com/4UAmMOKnjX
— Eurosport UK (@Eurosport_UK) 1 July 2019
It is a result that keeps Senegal on course for the final on July 19 which, if all goes well for the pair, could see Mane come up against Mohamed Salah and Egypt.
Speaking to Time Sports following the previous 1-0 loss to Algeria, Mane said “of course we hope that this happens, reaching the final is a goal we aim for.”
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