| Goals | Goals |
|---|---|
| 15. Bakaye Traore (30’) |
Mali edge out rivals Guinea
Cédric Kante of Mali and Alhassane Bangoura of Guinea
Bakaye Traore scored the only goal of the game on the half hour mark, handing the Eagles a hard-fought but deserved win over their West African rivals.
The match quickly settled into a good rhythm, with both teams enjoying spells of pressure as play moved freely from end to end. It was an absorbing match from early on, even though it took a while for the attackers to find their range and create opportunities.
Guinea were the first to have a genuine scoring chance and it was inevitably the excellent Ismael Bangoura who was on the end of it, heading a cross from the right flank back across goal to force Soumaila Diakite into a full-stretch save.
Guinea seemed to be the more likely side to break the deadlock, but Mali went ahead in the 30th minute when Bakaye Traore’s long range effort deflected off a Guinea defender to take it beyond the reach of Naby Yattara.
Syli Nationale almost drew level just four minutes after going behind, with Bangoura skilfully turning past his marker to find shooting space, but Diakite moved quickly off his line to close the angle and make a fine block to keep out the striker’s effort.
The second half lacked the rhythm and cutting edge that made the first so engrossing. Mali were prepared to sit back and soak up whatever Guinea could throw at them – a dangerous tactic, but the excellent Cedric Kante marshalled his defence superbly.
Diakite also remained an assured presence behind the backline and made a couple of decent saves, especially late on when he tipped over a fierce drive from Pascal Feindouno that seemed destined to hit the back of the net.
In the end Guinea simply didn’t have enough finesse in attack to prise open Mali’s defence, and the Eagles held out with relative comfort for a 1-0 win that will go a long way towards securing their goal of reaching the quarterfinals.
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