Senegal qualified for the Africa Cup of Nations quarter-finals after beating nine-man Cape Verde 2-0 thanks to goals from Sadio Mane and substitute Bamba Dieng.
Aliou Cisse’s side took to the Kouekong Stadium as favorites to win the match against Cape Verde, who wanted to reach the last eight of the tournament for the first time since 2013.
Despite being considered as one of the favorites to win the tournament, Senegal had scored just one goal in the group stage, where they registered a narrow 1-0 win over Zimbabwe and two goalless draws with Malawi and Guinea.
Cape Verde went down to 10 men after Patrick Andrade was sent off just 21 minutes in following a tough tackle on Pape Gueye in the middle third.
Another Cape Verde player was shown a direct card just before the hour mark, as goalkeeper Vozinha was penalised for his challenge on Mane.
It took Senegal six minutes to capitalise on their numerical superiority, with the Liverpool star getting the rebound inside the box after a corner kick and placing a brilliant strike past a helpless Marcio Rosa and in off the crossbar.
Mane was then replaced by Dieng, who netted Senegal’s third goal in the tournament to seal the victory and send his team to the AFCON quarter-finals, where they will face the winner of the tie between Mali and Equatorial Guinea.
