Sadio Mané scores penalty in injury time to save Senegal

Sadio Mané converted a penalty more than six minutes into injury time and Senegal beat Zimbabwe 1-0 Monday to open its African Cup of Nations campaign.

Mané sent the goalkeeper the wrong way and drilled the penalty into the left corner after Senegal produced a misfiring first performance in Cameroon for much of the game.

Senegal never looked like Africa's top-ranked team, or a team playing an opposition ranked 101 places below it.

But the chance for a winner finally came after Zimbabwe midfielder Kelvin Madzongwe was penalized for handball in the fourth minute of injury time.

Zimbabwe protested vehemently but referee Mario Escobar of Guatemala stuck by his decision after referring to a video review, which is being used at every game at the African Cup for the first time. Madzongwe had thrown himself to the ground trying to block a shot and the ball struck his arm.

After Mané's penalty, Escobar whistled for full time as soon as Zimbabwe kicked off again.

Senegal played without goalkeeper Edouard Mendy and captain Kalidou Koulibaly, who were among a group of players ruled out for the game after testing positive for the coronavirus.

Senegal also said six of its management team had tested positive before flying to Cameroon, and striker Ismaila Sarr was ruled out the tournament with injury before the first game.

Senegal lost to Algeria in the final at the last African Cup in 2019 and is still searching for its first African title.

Senegal had chances against Zimbabwe before the dramatic finish. Mané had one of the best when he got past two defenders and into the penalty area in the first half, but hit his shot straight at Zimbabwe goalkeeper Petros Mhari.

Pape Abou Cissé headed over from a corner with an open goal in front of him in the second half in another bad miss for Senegal.

The Group B game was the first of four matches on the second day of the African Cup. It was played in the western city of Bafoussam, where a tiny crowd turned up to watch one of the title favorites.

Organizers have ruled that only fans who are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 and have proof of recent negative virus tests can attend games at this year's African Cup, which is going ahead amid a new global surge in virus cases because of the omicron variant.

Guinea plays Malawi in the other Group B game. Later Monday, Morocco will face Ghana and tournament debutant Comoros will play Gabon in Group C.

The tournament opened Sunday when host Cameroon beat Burkina Faso 2-1 in Yaounde.