Senegal defeated the 10-man Gambia 3-0 on Monday to begin their robust defense of the Africa Cup of Nations championship.
It took just four minutes for Senegal to take the lead as an early attack saw the ball fall to Sadio Mane, who squared it to Pape Gueye for a neat finish.
Gambia looked capable of pulling level against the reigning African champions but the task was made much more daunting thanks to a ridiculous decision from Ebou Adams, who stamped on the back of Lamine Camara’s leg and earned a red card. Camara then went on to double his team’s lead in the second half with a solid effort after receiving a pass from Ismaila Sarr.
But the true highlight of the game came late on thanks to Iliman Ndiaye’s excellent trickery to get free and pass to Camara to fire in a gorgeous goal from the edge of the box.
THE MVP
As well as scoring twice, Camara had a big influence for Senegal. The midfielder’s passing was excellent and he tried to add some imagination into their attacks. His first goal was a good reward for his efforts before he smashed in a beauty to kill it off.
It was outright stupidity from Adams to lash out at Camara off the ball in the first half. He can have no complaints about the referee’s decision to send him off for the blatant and intentional offence but his coach and team-mates will likely have a few words for him as he helped derail their chances of getting a point from this game.
Senegal will hope to continue their strong start to the competition when they take on Cameroon in their second game on January 19 while Gambia will attempt to bounce back when they face Guinea.
