Sadio Mane scored a record-equalling 29th goal for his country as Senegal defeated Burkina Faso 3-1 in their Africa Cup of Nations semi-final on Wednesday.
After a goalless first half, Abdou Diallo and Idrissa Gueye put Senegal in control after the break only for Blati Toure to pull a goal back. But Senegal were not to be denied a second successive Afcon final as Mane calmly chipped home to seal his team's place in Sunday's championship game.
It was Mane's 29th goal for Senegal, taking him level with Henri Camara at the top of their all-time scorer list. And Mane could be going up against his Liverpool teammate Mohamed Salah in the final, if Egypt come out on top against hosts Cameroon on Thursday.
The two big moments of an incident-packed opening half came via referee Bamlak Tessema Weyesa, who twice awarded Senegal a penalty but twice reversed his decision after a VAR check.
The first came just before the half-hour mark when Burkina Faso goalkeeper Herve Koffi came charging off his line for a high ball and clattered into Cheikhou Kouyate.
Both players had to be carried off the pitch on a stretcher and while Crystal Palace midfielder Kouyate was able to continue, Koffi was not so lucky.
Weyesa then went to check the incident on the pitchside monitor and reversed his decision as replays showed Koffi had punched the ball away fractionally before taking out Kouyate.
Deep into what was nearly eight minutes of injury-time — and after substitute goalkeeper Farid Ouedraogo had pushed a powerful Mane strike out for a corner — Ethiopian referee Weyesa pointed to the spot again.
The ball had fallen to Paris Saint-Germain midfielder Gueye inside the penalty area and his piledriver was turned away by Edmond Tapsoba, who was deemed to have blocked with his hand.
Weyesa again returned to the pitchside monitor and again changed his mind, also reversing the yellow card he had shown Tapsoba. In Weyesa's defence, both penalty calls were the right ones.
Player ratings
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BURKINA FASO PLAYER RATINGS: Herve Koffi – 6. Bravely challenged for the ball in the air to punch away but took an elbow in the process that saw him forced off through injury. AFP -
Steeve Yago – 6. Stopped several attacks and defended well for the most part, but he was unfortunate with Senegal’s third goal that effectively ended the game. AFP -
Issoufou Dayo – 5. Beaten too easily by Mane for the second goal which left Burkina Faso with a mountain to climb. Reuters -
Edmond Tapsoba – 6. The Bayer Leverkusen star was often the man to get in the way of balls coming into the box in what was a positive defensive display for most of the match against a tough opponent. AFP -
Issa Kabore – 7. The 21-year-old handled Mane well for most of the game, with not too much coming down his flank. Picked up a crucial assist in the 83rd minute to provide Burkina Faso with a glimmer of hope. AFP -
Adama Guira – 6. A yellow card from a mistake meant Guira would have missed the final had Burkina Faso qualified, but that was one mistake from an assured game from the 33-year-old midfielder who took good care of the ball. AP -
Gustavo Sangare – 6. Played with the intention to trouble Senegal but the execution on the ball just wasn’t there on the night. Stoodout in his defensive duties and kept the opposition quiet for large parts of the game. AFP -
Blati Toure – 7. Arrived late in the box and made no mistake with the finish past Mendy, halving the deficit for the final minutes of the game. AFP -
Cyrille Bayala – 5. Involved in a head clash with Nampalys Mendy but didn’t seem to be too harmed, though he will be disappointed with some of his turnovers on the night. EPA -
Bertrand Traore – 6. Looked most likely to make something happen when on the ball for Burkina Faso with confident dribbling in between defenders, but the Aston Villa star could rarely work the ball onto his favoured left foot. EPA -
Hassane Bande – 6. Worked hard on both ends of the pitch in one of his country’s biggest occasions. Asked a question of Mendy in the first half but couldn’t beat him with a nearpost strike. AP -
SUBS: Farid Ouedraogo (Koffi 36) – 5. A good save close to half-time denied Mane from putting Senegal ahead, but a tough second half saw him the back-up goalkeeper concede three times. AFP -
Zakaria Sanogo (Bayala 60) – 6. Didn’t get the ball enough to make a positive impact in the 30 minutes he was on the pitch for. AP -
Abdoul Tapsoba (Bande 81) – N/A. Came on and played directly but rarely found his intended target. AFP -
Djibril Ouattara (Guira 81) – N/A. On for the final minutes but couldn’t influence the game. AFP -
SENEGAL PLAYER RATINGS: Edouard Mendy – 7. Not troubled by too much but forced into a save by Hassan Bande who tried to catch the goalkeeper out at the near post. AFP -
Saliou Ciss – 7. Looked to get forward often and had the opening chance of the game with a right footed strike that edged wide. Unlucky not to pick up an assist with an eloquently curved cross that Pape Gueye should have done better with. AFP -
Abdou Diallo – 8. Took his time with the ball inside the box and finished with power past Farid Ouedraogo. AFP -
Kalidou Koulibaly – 8. A powerful performance from Koulibaly who rarely looked flustered and produced a moment of magic with an overhead kick that turned into an assist for his centre-back partner Diallo. AP -
Bouna Sarr – 6. May have been slightly lucky to remain on the pitch after an overzealous challenge in the second half, kept his opposite number quiet for the most part. AFP -
Nampalys Mendy – 6. Suffered a head clash in the opening five minutes of the game. AP -
Cheikhou Kouyate – 6. Provided the engine in the Senegal midfield. AP -
Sadio Mane – 9. The Liverpool star always looked to want to make something happen and got better as the game went on. He worked space on the byline before cutting back for Senegal’s second goal, before putting the game out of sight with a delicate chip on his left foot late on. EPA -
Idrissa Gueye – 6. Played further advanced than he does at club level but he still kept things fairly conservative when on the ball in promising areas. Often provided support to his defence to stop counter-attacks. AFP -
Bamba Dieng – 7. Capped his performance off with a goal by anticipating Sadio Mane’s cross just before he was substituted, helping Senegal double their lead. AP -
Famara Diedhiou – 6. Looked isolated and didn’t look involved in the game too much before being substituted for Ismaila Sarr. AP -
SUBS: Pape Gueye (Kouyate 65) – 6. Introduced for Kouyate in the 65th minute and added enthusiasm, though his passes too often were intercepted. AFP -
Ismaila Sarr (Diedhiou 65) – 6. An injection of pace helped Senegal play wider and increase the danger of their counter-attacks, but his best moment might have been when he controlled a stray ball carefully that could have turned into a handball in the final minutes. AFP -
Pape Matar Sarr (Dieng 78) – N/A. On immediately after his side scored to provide fresh legs for the final minutes. AP -
Pape Abou Cisse (Mendy 92) – N/A. Introduced for the final minutes but still picked up a booking. Reuters
Senegal suffered a scare 10 minutes into what was a cagey start to the second half. Burkina Faso forward Bertrand Traore chased a ball over the top and looked to be in on goal but Napoli defender Kalidou Koulibaly showed his quality by getting back to hook the ball back on to the Burkinabe captain's face and out for a goal kick.
For all their star power, Senegal were failing to break down Burkina Faso's defence and a double change was made with Ismaila Sarr and Pape Gueye introduced.
Watford winger Sarr made an immediate impact and one of his crosses from the right was headed out for a corner that would lead to the opening goal after 70 minutes.
The resulting corner was acrobatically hooked towards goal by Koulibaly and his defensive partner Diallo took a touch before sidefooting home.
Burkina Faso suddenly looked drained and it should have been 2-0 minutes later but substitute Pape Gueye could only head the ball wide from a cross with the goal at his mercy.
The second, though, arrived soon after and it was set-up by Mane who dispossessed Issoufou Dayo on the by-line before cutting the ball back for Idrissa Gueye to drill home after 76 minutes.
That looked like that but Burkina Faso were not finished yet. With eight minutes left, Toure picked the perfect moment to score his first goal for his country when he kneed home a cross from the right.
Suddenly, Senegal were rocked. But as quickly as Burkinabe hopes were raised, they were soon dashed again by the class of Mane.
Picking up the ball on the counter-attack, Mane showed magnificent composure to stride through on goal and chip over the goalkeeper and into the net for a historic goal.
