Africa Cup of Nations

Sangare and Aurier star as Ivory Coast knock out holders Senegal

29 Jan 2024

Nott'm Forest duo help host nation stun reigning AFCON champions with 5-4 penalty shootout win

Nottingham Forest's Ibrahim Sangare and Serge Aurier helped Ivory Coast knock holders Senegal out of the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) 5-4 on penalties after a 1-1 draw, booking their place in the quarter-finals.

Senegal went ahead after only four minutes when a superb cross from former Liverpool star Sadio Mane was chested down and lashed into the roof of the net by Habib Diallo.

Mane was booked for a foul on Sangare shortly after, and although the Forest midfielder was taken off on a stretcher, fears he was injured were soon allayed when he returned to the action a couple of minutes later.

Senegal, who had Tottenham Hotspur's Pape Sarr and Forest's Moussa Niakhate in their starting XI, defended robustly as Ivory Coast pressed for an equaliser.

The Ivorians introduced Brighton & Hove Albion's Simon Adingra in the second half, and their pressure paid off when Franck Kessie slotted home an 86th-minute equaliser from the penalty spot.

Aurier was close to adding a second for the host nation in extra-time, but his shot fizzed inches wide and with neither side able to score again, the match went to penalties.

Niakhate was the only player to miss in the shootout as Kessie kept his composure to net the winning spot-kick. Ivory Coast will now face either Mali or Burkina Faso, who play on Tuesday, in the last eight of the tournament.

The final of AFCON is on Sunday 11 February.

Senegal's exit means an early return to their Premier League clubs for Niakhate (Nott'm Forest), Sarr (Spurs), Cheikhou Kouyate (Nott'm Forest), Fode Ballo-Toure (Fulham), Idrissa Gueye (Everton) and Nicolas Jackson (Chelsea).

Tuesday AFCON action

Seven more Premier League players could be involved in the final last-16 matches on Tuesday.

Yves Bissouma (Spurs) and Boubacar Traore (Wolves) are in Mali's squad to go head-to-head with Burkina Faso's Issa Kabore (Luton Town), Dango Ouattara (AFC Bournemouth) and Bertrand Traore (Aston Villa). Nayef Aguerd (West Ham) and Sofyan Amrabat (Man Utd) will be hoping to feature for Morocco against South Africa.

Asian Cup

Also on Tuesday are two big last-16 matches in the Asian Cup. Uzbekistan play Thailand at 11:30 GMT, before at 16:00 GMT Saudi Arabia face a South Korea team featuring three Premier League players in Son Heung-min (Spurs), Hwang Hee-chan (Wolves) and Kim Ji-soo (Brentford).