FIFA World Cup 2022 Qualifiers (Group E):
- Kenya 0-1 Mali
- Uganda 1-0 Rwanda
Mali completed a double over Kenya with a 1-0 win in Nairobi during a 2022 FIFA World Cup Qualifier at the Nyayo National Stadium on Sunday.
Ibrahim Kone scored the all-important goal in the 55th minute to give the West Africans the much-needed victory on matchday four.
This was the third victory for Mali in the qualifiers, and back-to-back against Kenya Harambee Stars having won easily 5-0 in Morocco on Thursday.
During the contest in Nairobi, Kenya was by far the best side; creating chance after chance but finishing remained their only under-doing.
Hassan Abdallah and Michael Olunga all had chances put to waste before Mali’s Adama Traore also headed onto the crossbar.
The deadlock was finally broken in the 55th minute against the run of play when Kone, scorer of a hat-trick during the 5-0 humiliation against the same opposition tapped home from a decent cutback.
Kone, a gangly forward who features at Sarpsborg 08 in Germany, reacted faster to score from Nantes’ Charles Traore’s telling squared ball off the left flank.
The victory takes Mali to 10 points (three wins and a draw) as they maintain the Group E leadership status.
Kenya remains on two points from four matches played.
Meanwhile, Uganda Cranes who completed back-to-back one-nil identical wins over Rwanda Amavubi Stars are in second position with eight points.
Rwanda has a single point from the four matches and like Kenya, they are officially out of contention for the next round of the qualifiers.
3 wins and two draws really???