Ten men At Stade de la Paix in Bouake, Cote d’Ivoire, Cotê d’Ivoire overcame a goal deficit to defeat Mali 2-1 in extra time, advancing to the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) semi-finals.
Mali created most of the chances in the first half of the game, which led to a careless start by the Elephants and an early penalty.
Lassine Sinayoko was brought down in the penalty box by Côte d’Ivoire’s Odilon Kossounou, and a penalty was awarded after the latter was shown a yellow card.
Adama Traore’s effort from the spot was saved by goalkeeper, Yahia Fofana.
Kossounou was sent off in the first half after he received a second yellow card following another challenge on Lassine Sinayoko.
Mali’s dominance continued in the second half as they had a man more than Côte d’Ivoire, but the host managed to contain them for some time.
The Eagles finally had what they kept pushing for throughout the game; the opener in the 71st minutes.
Substitute Nene Dorgeles weaved through the Côte d’Ivoire defence to find open space and hit from outside the box to beat Yahia Fofana who was rooted to score the opener.
Cotê d’Ivoire unexpectedly got the equalizer through Simon Adingra who scored from a rebound, following Seko Fofana’s long-range which hit the Malian defence.
Oumar Diakete scored late in extra-time to win it for Cotê d’Ivoire with a clever backheel finish.
Cotê d’Ivoire will play D.R Congo in the semi-finals at the Alassane Ouattara Stadium in Abidjan on Feb. 7.