Keita fires Mali to victory in cup opener

Mali secured the first victory in this year’s Africa Cup of Nations with an uninspiring 1-0 win over Niger in Port Elizabeth.

Both of Saturday’s ties — South Africa against Cape Verde and Angola against Morocco — finished goalless and Ghana and DR Congo drew 2-2 earlier yesterday, but Mali finally overcame stubborn resistance from Niger to go top of Group B on three points.

Seydou Keita was the hero for Mali, steering home the winner in the 84th minute after seeing an earlier shot come back off the post.

Chances were at a premium in a poor first half, with Niger coming closest to opening the scoring when Kofi Dankwa’s volley brought an excellent save from Mali goalkeeper Mamadou Samassa.

In the second half, the impressive Keita brought a good save from Kassaly Daouda with a left-footed drive from 20 yards, while Mali substitute Mahamadou Samassa wasted a good chance from 12 yards on 64 minutes when he could only fire into the side-netting.

A third 0-0 draw of the tournament looked on the cards but with time running out, Niger goalkeeper Daouda came out for a cross but succeeded only in dropping the ball at Keita’s feet and he calmly steered his shot home for a deserved winner.

Earlier Ghana and DR Congo played out an entertaining 2-2 draw.

The Black Stars survived some early pressure to take a two-goal lead through Emmanuel Agyemang-Badu and Kwadwo Asamoah but, having rode their luck for large parts, were deservedly pegged back by Tresor Mputu and Dieumerci Mbokani‘s penalty. It was a result that in the end reflected what both sides had put in, although Ghana will be left to rue their failure to hold what they had.