Afcon 2017: Sadio Mané on target again as Senegal beat Zimbabwe to advance

Senegal sailed into the quarter-finals of the Africa Cup of Nations with a comfortable 2-0 victory over Zimbabwe.

Goals from Sadio Mané and Henri Saivet ensured the 2002 finalists progressed from Group B with their final match against Algeria to spare, but the margin of victory should have been much larger.

“The goal today was to qualify, now it’s done,” said the head coach, Aliou Cissé, after early goals settled the game. “In the first game, even when we played badly, we got to win. Today, we played well and won, and we qualified. I’m very proud of the guys, we have to keep going like that.”

Senegal, who defeated Tunisia in their opening Group B match, started brightly and twice went close to scoring through Keita Baldé and Mame Biram Diouf before Liverpool’s Mané put them ahead after nine minutes.

Senegal won the ball back in midfield and Saivet was set free down the left. His shot across the goalkeeper was going wide but the ball rolled perfectly into the path of Mané at the far post to tap into an empty net for his second goal of the tournament.

Senegal had only to wait four more minutes to extend their lead when Saivet whipped a lovely curling free-kick over the defensive wall and into the net from 25 yards out.

Zimbabwe had a great chance to equalise as half-time approached but Khama Billiat shot tamely at the goalkeeper.

Diouf spurned a glorious opportunity to score a third goal four minutes after the restart but blazed his left-foot shot over the crossbar. The Stoke striker was then denied by a good piece of goalkeeping from Tatenda Mukuruva shortly afterwards as he raced out to block.

Mukuruva saved his team again midway through the second half as he denied Mané a second goal with another good block, before Costa Nhamoinesu headed Mané’s lobbed follow-up away from just in front of his own goal line.

Nyasha Mushekwi stung the palms of the Senegal goalkeeper Abdoulaye Diallo and Billiat quickly curled an effort narrowly wide as Zimbabwe threatened.

Moussa Sow and Mané got in each other’s way as a good chance went begging before Mukuruva saved to deny Sow and Keita in quick succession in the closing stages.

Elsewhere, defensive lapses cost Algeria in a 2-1 defeat by Tunisia as the captain, Aïssa Mandi, netted an own goal and Faouzi Ghoulam conceded a penalty. The ball sliced off the foot of Mandi after 50 minutes before Ghoulam tugged back Wahbi Khazri 14 minutes later and Naïm Sliti converted from the spot.

“We started very well. But we know that in a game of this level, you should not give away gifts,” said the Algeria coach, George Leekens. Sofiane Hanni pulled one back in stoppage time but Algeria’s fate had already been sealed.

“We did a great job. They have top players who play all in Europe, we have three or four in Europe and the others play in Tunisia,” said the Tunisia defender Aymen Abdennour.