Another clean sheet for Mendy as Senegal advance to quarterfinals of Africa Cup of Nations

Senegal have yet to concede a goal in four games at the Africa Cup of Nations, with yet another clean sheet kept in today’s 2-0 Round of 16 knockout victory over Cabo Verde.

Édouard Mendy started this one, just as he did the last group game after coming out of COVID isolation, but had very little to do facing just two shots and making one save.

The match was more notable for more refereeing controversy, with Cabo Verde picking up two red cards before (a clearly concussed) Sadio Mané was able to open the scoring just past the hour-mark. Bamba Dieng added a second one late on for Senegal to secure the victory. They will now face the winners of Mali versus Equatorial Guinea in Sunday’s quarterfinals.

Four other teams have already advanced to the quarterfinals as well, including Tunisia, Burkina Faso (thanks in part to a goal from Bertrand Traoré), Gambia, and Cameroon. Cameroon’s win over Comoros unfortunately has become shrouded in tragedy as a crush outside the stadium resulted in injuries and fatalities, with eight confirmed dead at this time, and many more injured, some severely.

It’s unclear exactly what happened, and how or why, but the tournament is continuing to go ahead.