Senegal showed their intent with a dangerous cross in the opening seconds from West Ham United’s El Hadji Malick Diouf, but a couple of minutes later, captain Kalidou Koulibaly was perhaps lucky not to concede a penalty after catching Lassine Sinayoko.
The Eagles will feel that they should have capitalised on a misplaced pass by the out-of-sorts Koulibaly midway through the first half, but Sinayoko was ultimately tackled by Krepin Diatta.
Diatta soon made a decisive contribution at the other end of the pitch, delivering a cross which was horribly spilt by Mali goalkeeper Djigui Diarra, with Iliman Ndiaye gleefully converting the loose ball on 27 minutes.
Looking to add to their advantage, Pape Gueye then flashed a long-range shot wide, before Diouf was denied excellently by Diarra.
And Mali’s first half then went from bad to worse in stoppage time as skipper Yves Bissouma was sent off following a second reckless challenge, giving head coach Tom Saintfiet a potentially harder job of motivating his players at half-time.
Ironically, despite being down to 10 men, Mali tested Edouard Mendy in the Senegal goal for the first time in the game early in the second period through Sinayoko, before Mendy denied centre-back Abdoulaye Diaby as the Eagles sensed a comeback.
Senegal manager Pape Thiaw therefore decided to send on Lamine Camara and Pathe Ciss in an attempt to regain some control, with the latter calling Diarra into action with a header, before, in second-half stoppage time, Camara’s ambitious volley was tipped onto a post by Diarra, who had an eventful match.
Despite the victory, this was an unconvincing display by Senegal, who won an AFCON finals game by just a single goal for the first time in four years.
However, that win was over Zimbabwe (1-0) en route to the title, so Thiaw and his men won’t be too downhearted as they prepare for another tie at the Tangier Grand Stadium in five days’ time, this time against Egypt or Ivory Coast.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Krepin Diatta (Senegal)
