Sadio Mane scored a late penalty to give Senegal a 1-0 win over Zimbabwe in a Group B Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) tie at the Stade de Kouekong in Bafoussam on Monday.
Disaster struck the gallant underdogs when a shot hit the right arm of Kelvin Madzongwe and Mane sent goalkeeper Petros Mhari the wrong way with the resulting penalty on 97 minutes to settle a lacklustre affair.
While Senegal, one of the favourites to win a competition delayed by Covid-19, dominated possession, they rarely threatened to break down a well-organised Zimbabwe defence.
“It was difficult playing in such hot conditions and not having an opportunity to play any warm-up matches affected us,” said Mane.
“We left it very late to score, but the most important issue was to secure maximum points and we achieved that. Now we must try to perform better against Guinea.”
Senegal lacked Chelsea goalkeeper Edouard Mendy and Napoli centre-back Kalidou Koulibaly, who are recovering in Cameroon after testing positive for the coronavirus.
Zimbabwe travelled to central Africa without a couple of their top players, Marvelous Nakamba from Aston Villa and fellow midfielder Marshall Munetsi from French Ligue 1 outfit Reims, due to injuries.
With reigning African Footballer of the Year Mane and Paris Saint-Germain midfielder Idrissa Gueye in the starting line-up, Senegal were expected to secure maximum points without undue difficulty.
The opening 20 minutes were controlled by the Teranga Lions, who camped in the Zimbabwe half and passed the ball casually while their opponents did a lot of chasing at a sparsely populated Stade de Kouekong.
