Ivory Coast were able to edge out Mali in a thrilling 2-1 victory to book their place in the semi finals.
By Olisa Obi
Mali and Ivory Coast played out a thriller featuring red cards, a penalty, dramatic late goals, and even assault on the referee. This match proves why the Afcon is truly a global spectacle.
AFCON 2023 host, Ivory Coast, was able to deny Mali their dance with glory after conceding an early penalty and getting a player sent off in the first half.
Mali took the lead through Nene Dorgeles, but had their hearts broken by two late goals in normal and extra time from Simon Adingra and Oumar Diakite.
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The first clear sign of danger for Ivory Coast came after only 12 minutes when Mali claimed a penalty after a handball in the box by Odilon Kossounou.
After a VAR review, the penalty was revoked following an offside call, but Kossounou was once again in the mix as he clearly did not heed the warning from the previous incident. He again committed a foul in the box just five minutes later. This time recklessly bringing down Lassine Sinayoko in the box.
The hosts were able to breathe a heavy sigh of relief as Adama ‘Noss’ Traore was denied from the spot by Yahia Fofana.
Kossounou would, however, seem to be the rotten egg in the Ivory Coast line up as he was sent off before the end of the first half for a second bookable offence to end one of the worst individual displays in AFCON history.
Despite the red card, Ivory Coast went into the break on level terms, and lasted until the 77th minute before being broken by the Malian Eagles after a brilliant strike from Nene Dorgeles.
Just when the game appeared to be heading towards a famous win for Mali, Ivory Coast found an equaliser through Simon Adingra with only two minutes of normal time left to send the game into extra time.
The sensational match was won in extra time as Oumar Diakite flicked on a shot by Seko Fofana to find the back of the net and send fans in the Stade Olympique Alassane Ouattara into a frenzy.
In the aftermath of the dramatic winner, Diakite was sent off for a second yellow card after taking off his shirt in the celebrations, while Mali’s Hamari Traore was also shown a red card for attacking the referee.
