Sudan 1-1 Senegal
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Senegalese forward Ibrahima Niane netted a late-late strike in the 1-1 draw with Sudan in the CAF U-20 Group B opener in Ndola.
Niane’s late goal denied the Sudanese their first ever win in the history of the championship.
Hassan Mutwakil scored a penalty mid-way in the first half to give Sudan the lead.
Sudan’s only participation at the eight team tournament was 20 years ago in Morocco, but they bowed out without a win.
And Mutwakil’s goal appeared to put them on the path for a historic win, but they fluffed it against a Senegalese side that played more than an hour with ten men after captain Mamadou Diarra was shown a straight red card after 14 minutes of play.
Diarra fouled Eid Mugadam, who had intercepted Alioune Gueye’s pass, and headed towards goal.
His intervention though timely came at a cost as his team had to play the remainder of the game short of a man.
The numerical disadvantage soon began to have an effect on the Senegalese and four minutes later they conceded a penalty after Moussa Ba was adjudged to have impeded Khaled Abdulmonem in the area.
The resultant penalty was converted by Mutwakil to give Sudan the lead midway into the first half.
Few minutes later, Senegal coach Joseph Koto was compelled to revise his tactics bringing on lanky defender, Mamadou Mbaye for Aliou Badji. The introduction was not enough and ‘Les Lionceaux’ will only find their feet in the second half.
The Sudanese made the most of their numerical advantage but Mutwakil and Abdelmonem were guilty of spurning chances that could have seen them increase their lead.
With the game heading for a Sudanese victory, Niane tucked home a rebound two minutes from time after substitute Mouhamed Pouye’s effort bounced off the post for a deserving equalizer.
Sudan next plays Cameroon on Thursday whilst Senegal battles South Africa both in Ndola.
Total Man of the Match: Krepin Diatta (Senegal)
(Additional report on CAFonline)
