| Goals | Goals |
|---|---|
| 9. Cheick Diabate (23’) | |
| 9. Cheick Diabate (80’) |
Diabate double hands Mali third place
Cheick Diabate of Mali (9) celebrates with teammates
The result sealed Mali’s first win in an AFCON third place playoff and their best finish in the tournament since 1972 when they were runners-up.
The match got off to a relatively quiet start and the closest either team came to an early goal was a cross from Mali’s Samba Diakite that drifted onto the top of the crossbar, with Ghana goalkeeper Adam Kwarasey scrambling to cover it.
Midway through the first half Mali took the lead. A clever corner kick routine saw Bakaye Traore drive a good low cross-shot into the box that was only half saved by Kwarasey and Cheick Diabate was on hand to turn home the loose ball.
On 33 minutes the Eagles almost doubled their lead as Samba Diakite surged forward down the right and got away a low shot from a tight angle, but Kwarasey did well to make the block. Had Diakite opted to cross, Garra Dembele would have had a tap-in in the six-yard box.
With less than 10 minutes left in the first half, the Black Stars made a tactical change by withdrawing Samuel Inkoom and putting on attacker Prince Tagoe. They immediately had more of a focal point in attack, but the score remained 1-0 in favour of Mali up to half time.
Ghana made another substitution at the start of the second half, sending on midfielder Sulley Muntari. The Black Stars dominated for about 15 minutes after the restart but never really looked troubling Mali’s defence.
Then on 64 minutes their uphill task became even an even tougher assignment as they were reduced to 10 men. Defender Isaac Vorsah picked up a needless second yellow card for thrusting his leg out at a Mali attacker and was sent for an early shower.
With the Black Stars a man down but determined to push forward in search of an equaliser, it seemed only a matter of time until Mali hit them on the break and killed off the game. The second goal for the Eagles duly arrived on 80 minutes when Diabate turned home a low cross from Adama Tamboura.
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