LIMBE, Cameroon – Two late penalties awarded after intervention by the Video Assistant Referee saw debutants Gambia hold Mali to a 1-1 draw at the AFCON 2021 in Limbe as the teams stayed joint top of the Group F standings.
Gambia now will meet Tunisia in their final pool match on Thursday, while Mali tackle Mauritania.
The top two teams in each group advance to the second round, along with the four best third-place finishers across the six pools.
Brighton midfielder Yves Bissouma, who came off the bench in a matchday 1 win over Tunisia, was promoted to the starting line-up by Mali coach Mohamed Magassouba.
The other Premier League player in the Mali team, Southampton winger Moussa Djenepo, retained his place as the west African nation sought a ninth win in 19 matches in all competitions against Gambia.
In 32 degrees Celsius (90 Fahrenheit) early afternoon heat and 75 percent humidity at the 20,000-seat Stade Omnisport it was no surprise that the match began at a slow pace.
Mali were more impressive in the early exchanges with Bissouma firing a free-kick wide and Djenepo having a header saved by Modou Jobe, who plays in the South African second division.
After being on the back foot for 20 minutes, Gambia were awarded a 35-metre free-kick and Musa Barrow unleashed a thunderbolt that rattled the crossbar.
After two cooling breaks within eight minutes to enable the players to drink water, the woodwork came to the rescue of Mali again.
This time Ablie Jallow was the unlucky Gambian as his angled shot rebounded off a post to the relief of Mali goalkeeper Ibrahim Mounkoro.
Djenepo was harshly yellow-carded by the Moroccan referee as half-time approached, ruling him out of the final group match against Mauritania on Thursday as he was also cautioned against Tunisia.
After a slow start to the second half, the match burst into life with Mali having three scoring opportunities in quick succession and Gambia one.
Bissouma fired just over; Adama ‘Malouda’ Traore narrowly lost a chase for the ball with Jobe, who then blocked with his chest a close-range attempt by Traore.
A Gambian counterattack threatened to break the deadlock until they were dispossessed on the edge of the Mali box.
Then came the two penalties with Kone and Barrow holding their nerve to send the goalkeepers the wrong way.
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