\n<\/p>\n
Sadio Mane\u2019s equaliser earned 2022 champions Senegal a 1-1 draw with the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) in their heavyweight Africa Cup of Nations clash on Saturday.<\/p>\n
Cedric Bakambu had given the Leopards the lead just after the hour mark in Tangier, but Al-Nassr forward Mane replied soon after, and the result ensures Senegal stay on top of Group D with one round of matches still to play.<\/p>\n list of 4 items<\/span>end of list<\/span><\/section>\n Both teams have four points, but Senegal have a superior goal difference before their final group match against Benin on Tuesday.<\/p>\n Benin have three points after a 1-0 victory earlier Saturday in Rabat against Botswana, who are bottom without a point or goal scored.<\/p>\n Sebastien Desabre\u2019s Congolese side were seeking revenge after a dramatic defeat in the last meeting of the nations, in World Cup qualifying in September.<\/p>\n Senegal came from 2-0 down to win that encounter 3-2 in Kinshasa, a result which allowed them to go on and top their group to secure a place at next year\u2019s finals in North America.<\/p>\n DRC were therefore forced to settle for second place, but can still make the World Cup if they win a one-off playoff against either New Caledonia or Jamaica in Mexico in March.<\/p>\n Senegal, fresh from beating Botswana 3-0 and seen as perhaps the biggest threat to Morocco\u2019s chances of winning the title on home soil, had more of the possession and more chances on the day.<\/p>\n However, the Leopards took the lead in the 61st minute when Theo Bongonda \u2013 scorer of the only goal in their opening win against Benin \u2013 had a shot at the end of a fine move parried by goalkeeper Edouard Mendy, and Real Betis striker Bakambu pounced to convert the loose ball.<\/p>\n But Senegal were only behind for eight minutes, their equaliser coming after a superb run by teenage substitute Ibrahim Mbaye.<\/p>\n The 17-year-old Paris Saint-Germain winger Mbaye, who was born in France and represented them up to Under-20 level, recently committed his international future to Senegal, for whom he qualifies through one of his parents.<\/p>\n He replaced Ismaila Sarr just after Bakambu\u2019s opener, and made the leveller from a penetrating run down the right.<\/p>\n Mbaye burst away from Arthur Masuaku, who appeared to injure himself going to tackle, and then saw his shot blocked by Lionel Mpasi, but Mane was on hand to score.<\/p>\n It was a 10th AFCON goal for former Liverpool superstar Mane, who is appearing at his sixth tournament.<\/p>\n Yohan Roche \u200cscored a deflected winner as Benin claimed a first-ever victory \u200dat the Africa \u200dCup of Nations finals, with a 1-0 Group D success against Botswana in Rabat on Saturday.<\/p>\n Benin move to three points from their opening two games, level with Senegal and the DRC in the table, who meet in their second pool fixture \u200bin Tangier later on Saturday.<\/p>\n Benin took the lead in \u200dthe 28th minute when Roche played a one-two in the box with captain Steve Mounie, and his shot from 9 metres (10 yards) took a wicked deflection off a defender \u200dand into \u2060the net.<\/p>\n Benin finally celebrated a victory at the continental finals on the 16th attempt, following their debut in 2004, and despite the fact that they were quarterfinalists in 2019. They also have five draws to go with 10 defeats.<\/p>\n Botswana offered little going forward, though Mothusi Johnson struck the crossbar with a curling free-kick that \u200bbeat the goalkeeper but not the frame of the \u200cgoal.<\/p>\n Benin had several chances to add to their score, though Botswana goalkeeper Goitseone Phoko made an excellent low stop to deny Tamimou Ouorou.<\/p>\n Dodo Dokou then worked an excellent shooting \u200cchance 11 metres (12 yards) from goal in added time at the end of the game, but fired over \u200cthe bar with the goal gaping.<\/p>\n Botswana become \u2060the second team, after Benin, to lose their first five Cup of Nations matches after three defeats on debut in 2012 and an opening 3-0 loss to Senegal this year.<\/p>\n They \u200cmeet DRC in their final pool game on Tuesday, while Benin face Senegal at the same time.<\/p>\n The top two teams in each pool, \u200das well as the four best third-placed sides across the six groups, qualify for the Round of 16.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Sadio Mane\u2019s equaliser earned 2022 champions Senegal a 1-1 draw with the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) in their heavyweight Africa Cup of Nations clash on Saturday. Cedric Bakambu had given the Leopards the lead just after the hour mark in Tangier, but Al-Nassr forward Mane replied soon after, and the result ensures Senegal […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6733,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6732","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-africa-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6732","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6732"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6732\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/6733"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6732"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6732"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6732"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Recommended Stories <\/h2>\n
Benin record first AFCON win in their history<\/h2>\n
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