Crystal Palace wantaway man, Wilfried Zaha scored for the Ivorians with fifteen minutes to stoppage time after a well delivered foul kick by the side’s goalkeeper, Gbohouo which he effortlessly sent through the opponent’s keeper under-armpits to score his second goal of the tournament.
The Ivory Coast side started by missing their first chance in the 6th minute after Crystal Palace forward, Wilfried Zaha missed a chance take his team to the leading front after his strike was blocked by the Mali defence which also found his teammate on the offside despite going wide after the blockage.
Their Mali opponents too missed another well-choreographed chance in the 11th minute with their forward, Moussa Marega failing to strike but pass the ball which would be collected by the Ivorian defence.
ZAHA breaks the deadlock ⚽❗#LesÉléphants take the lead after a neat finish by Wilfried Zaha from a tight angle! Will Mali respond with 10 minutes left to play?#AFCON2019 pic.twitter.com/92yJ7AbB0m
— SuperSport 🏉🏆 (@SuperSportTV) July 8, 2019
A good run from Malian winger Djenepo in the 16th minute was stopped by the Ivorian defence and a high corner that slipped through the hands of the goalkeeper, Gbohouo found Diaby all by himself but send off off-target with his thigh.
A free kick just outside the box on the 33rd minute, after a foul on Mali player, was directly send to the keeper by the side’s forward, Moussa Marega.
Mali’s attacking midfielder, Lassana Coulibaly was shown the first card of the match on the 35th minutes with the foul leading to a clash between the goalkeeper, D. Diarra and Ivory Coast’s number five, Wilfried Kanon forcing to stoppage for a minute but the defender managed to keep up on his feet.
Mali continued their good runs tearing up the Ivorian defence on the 42nd minute but Marenga, all by himself failed to convert a cross from his winger teammate, Djenepo for him to end it wide on the right side of the keeper.
Moussa Djenepo, the winger signed by Southampton over the summer, was for the better part of the first half causing plenty of trouble for Ivory Coast, who struggled to get out of their half in the last minutes of the first half.
The second half came with the chemistry between Marega and Djenepo continuing but a through pass from the latter ended in the feet of the Ivorian defence in the 52nd minute as the winger tried to pass to his teammate who was standing behind an attacking defender.
Pepe’s shot in the 54th minute after a well-taken corner went fr wide to deny his side a second-half early lead.
Mamadou Bagayoko gets the second yellow card of the match after falling a rival outside the right side of his keeper but the foul kick is shoved away by Gbohouo.
Ivory Coast missed a chance to take lead for his side in the 66th minute after a high-flying through pass that found Kodjia who shot it wide in the face of the goalkeeper.
The match got physical after Zaha’s 75th-minute goal with Ivorian goalkeeper engaging each other in heated after a corner ball that saw the player g hard on the keeper who reiterated furiously. All in all, both teams showed very good resilience and good play despite the chances they missed