Mali beat Guinea in 2012 African Cup of Nations
Traore's strike sinks Guinea
Posted: Jan 25 2012
Mali got their 2012 African Cup of Nations campaign off to a flying start with a 1-0 victory over neighbours Guinea in Franceville to join Ghana at the top of Group D.
With 30 minutes on the clock, the Eagles grabbed the only goal of the game when Bakaye Traore's ferocious drive from the edge of the box found the back of the net, taking a deflection along the way.
The game started at lightning pace and Guinea could have taken the lead in the opening minute. Ibrahima Traore picked the ball up and smashed a powerful drive towards goal from 30 metres out which required Soumbeila Diakite to parry the ball to safety.
The Syli Nationale were on the attack again in the 18th minute when a quickly taken free kick enabled Lass Bangoura to cross the ball into the box to his namesake, Ismael Bangoura, who did well to get his head to the ball, but Diakite's acrobatic stop kept the scores level.
Despite their positive start to the game, Guinea fell behind on the half hour mark. After a free kick into the box, the ball fell to Bakaye Traore on the edge of the penalty area and the Nancy midfielder unleashed an unstoppable drive high into the net via a deflection from Habib Balde.
Michel Dussuyer's men could and perhaps should have been level in the 34th minute. Ismael Bangoura was played through on goal by Pascal Feindouno, yet the AL Nasr striker was denied once again from close range by the keeper who made a smart block to preserve his side's lead at half-time.
Both sides were sluggish on the early stages of the second period, but Guinea came close to equalising in the 66th minute. Substitute Abdoul Camara whipped an inviting cross into the box , but Ousmane Barry failed to get his head to the ball from six yards out - the Etoile man coming within inches of scoring.
Guinea continued to search for the elusive equaliser and came very close in injury time when Feindouno sent a rasping effort towards goal which was brilliantly tipped over the bar by Diakite - the last chance of the game as the Eagles claimed victory.
Next up for Guinea is a meeting with Botswana on Saturday, while Mali face a crunch encounter against Ghana that same night.
Comment on this article:
TERMS OF USE: The comments posted below do not reflect the views of KickOff.com. Users are reminded that no misuse of this comment facility will be tolerated. Any abusive, racist or inflammatory comments will be deleted and the user banned. Please report abusive posts to editor@kickoff.com