Ibrahim Koné’s second-half penalty was enough to get Mali off to a winning 1-0 start in the African Cup of Nations (AFCON) Group F against Tunisia.
Tunisia looked solid defensively, but failed to muster a single shot on target in the first half while Mali come closed to drawing first blood as Massadio Haïdara’s left-footed drive flew wide off the post.
Less than three minutes into the second half, referee pointed to the spot kick for a Tunisia handball, a resulting penalty which was accurately converted by Koné.
The ‘Aigles de Carthage’ were handed a lifeline in the 75th minute as they received a controversial penalty following Moussa Djenepo’s handball but Khazri was unable to convert as alerted Mounkoro made the save.
The dramatic clash of the two Eagles witnessed a chaotic display by referee Janny Zinkazwe who untimely blew the final whistle after just 85 minutes before CAF officials interference in restarting play, but then blew again with just 89 minutes and 43 seconds gone.
His initial mistake drew a furious reaction from Tunisia’s bench as the backroom staffs protested to complete the game.
Post-match press conference was then interrupted by Confederation of African Football officials barging in and saying the match will be re-started to play out the final three minutes.
Despite being the losing side, Tunisia angrily refused to restart play but Sikazwe and Mali did wait for them.
The error possibly came when Sikazwe stopped the match for a five-minute water break, but could have failed to stop his watch, which saw his watch run to 90 minutes while the actual time had just reached the 85th minute
On return, the Zambian official then blew the whistle calling off the match after playing for four minutes, believing that was added time after insisting that his watch is correct.
Tunisia were unable to find an equalizer despite a late controversial red card to Mali’s El Bilal Touré.
MOLATsportgist 