Sadio Mane laid on the opening goal as Senegal surged to the semi-finals of the Africa Cup of Nations with a 3-1 victory over Equatorial Guinea on Sunday night.
Mane started for his country despite calls for him to sit out entirely after a nasty head injury in the last-16 win over Cape Verde, taking his place on the left of the attack.
And after a dominant start for Senegal, it was Liverpool’s No. 10 who laid on the first of the night, with his slide-rule pass raced onto by Famara Diedhiou who finished well.
He played another inviting pass across the face of goal before half-time, only to be cut out, with Equatorial Guinea then levelling the scores 12 minutes after the restart.
It came in a moment of chaos for Senegal, who fell foul to a well-worked set-piece routine that allowed Jannick Bulya to stab home from the edge of the box.
Senegal restored their lead, though, when a defensive calamity saw two failed headed clearances, the latter landing for Cheikhou Kouyate to prod in.
The win was clinched not long after, with left-back Saliou Ciss chesting down a diagonal ball on the charge, before pulling it back for Ismaila Sarr to sidefoot in.
With Egypt through to face hosts Cameroon in the other semi-final, Senegal now have an idea of who they could take on in the final on February 6.
However, they are required to get through Burkina Faso first, with that semi-final to take place on Wednesday night.
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