AFCON: It’s a Senegal vs Algeria final
Sunday was a thrilling evening for football lovers; there were missed penalties, own goals, and a stunning free kick.
In the first match Senegal was hoping for a chance to be in the finals for the first time in 17 years; Tunisia was hoping to win as it last did in 2004, when they hosted the tournament.
Tunisia had the first shot at being ahead, when they were granted a penalty after a Kalidou Koulibaly handball in the 73rd minute. Ferjani Sassi took the penalty, but Senegalese keeper Alfred Gomis was more than ready for it.
Barely five minutes later, Senegal had been awarded a penalty. Like Sassi’s, Henri Saivet’s effort was stopped by the Tunisia keeper, Hassen.
The Tunisian keeper made the costly mistake of parrying a corner kick weakly in the dying minutes of the game, sending it into Dylan Bronn’s path. The Tunisian defender unwittingly found himself scoring an own goal as the ball deflected into the net.
In the Nigeria vs. Algeria match, the first goal was an own goal by Troost-Ekong. It would be more than 30 minutes before Nigeria found a response, in the form of a penalty successfully taken by Odion Ighalo, the tournament’s top scorer with 4 goals to his name.
The game seemed to be headed for extra time, but at the very very last minute, at 90 +5 minutes, Algeria had a free kick just outside the box, and Riyad Mahrez curled it into the net.
