The Eagles of Mali won the Carthage Eagles of Tunisia 1-0, but the game was almost marred by some controversial moments by the referee
By Kehinde Okeowo
Ibrahima Kone scored the only goal of the game as Mali beat Tunisia 1-0 at the Africa Cup of Nations in a game which was overshadowed by the controversial officiating of the referee.
The result, which gave Mali a winning start in Group F came as a surprise given the gap in the FIFA World Rankings between the two nations.
Carthage Eagles coach Mondher Kebaier and his technical staff rushed onto the field at full-time after referee Janny Sikazwe failed to add any injury time.
Kone converted the penalty awarded by the referee when he spotted a handball from Ellyes Skhiri, after he blocked Boubakar Kouyaté’s shot.
Malian keeper Ibrahim Mounkoro later saved a spot-kick from Wahbi Khazri to preserve The Eagle’s advantage.
ALSO READ: Buhari eulogises Super Eagles after defeating Egypt
There had already been confusion in the Limbe Stadium as Sikazwe had appeared to blow his full-time whistle with five minutes remaining.
Kebaier and his staff angrily confronted the Zambian official and his assistants on the pitch, pointing to their watches and remonstrating about the lack of added time.
Sikazwe took time at the VAR monitor while awarding Tunisias’ penalty, there was also a cooling drink break after Mounkoro saved the penalty.
The referee also returned to consult VAR after brandishing a red card to Mali substitute El Bilal Toure late on, there were also several substitutions in five separate windows in the second half.
The result follows the trend of 1-0 win at the finals, with this the seventh in the 10 games played to date. The second match in Group F will be played later on Wednesday between Mauritania and Gambia.
