Mali beat Niger
1-0 in Group B's
second match on
Sunday at the
Nelson Mandela
Bay Stadium in Port Elizabeth.
The Eagles
captain Seydou
Keita handed his
side the hard-
fought victory five minutes to before the end of
the encounter. Mali are participating in their
eighth Africa Cup of Nations finals
while Niger are appearing for the
second time in the competition. The Eagles attempted to
intimidate the Mena early in the
match, with six-foot forward
Cheick Diabate of French side
Bordeaux unleashing two close-
range strikes that Niger goalkeeper Daouda Kassaly
confidently palmed away, as his
defenders stood firm to keep the
backline safe from palpable
damage. The Malians dominated play
through the half hour mark, with
another goal chance falling to
Keita, but he crashed his volley
against Diabate, who was waiting
in the box to conclude the action. The Mena were still struggling to
get a foothold in the game as the
first half wore on. The group,
mostly composed of home based
players, chose to apply an
extensive defending formula in a bid to thwart the Eagles'
efforts, but suffered agonizing
domination in the process. Despite their overwhelming
control of the midfield and
superior ball possession, Mali were
unable to open the scoring, as
their efforts were restricted to
some aimless shots delivered by Diabate, Sigamary Diarra of
Ajaccio and Kalilou Traore. Niger maintained their combative
mood throughout the first half
while Mali kept pushing in search
of close-range faults. However,
none of the ensuing free kicks
went on target as the score stood at a goalless draw by half
time. Mali coach Patrice Carteron chose
to bring more pace to his side in
the second half by substituting
Cheick Fantamady Diarra with
Mahamadou Samassa of Serie A
side Chievo, which almost immediately paid off when the 26-
year-old cut in from the left but
dragged his effort wide. The Eagles were still on top of
proceedings after the break and
could have broken the deadlock in
the 54th minute, but Keita's
powerful long-range effort was
breath-takingly parried by Kassaly, leaving the former
Barcelona midfielder ruing the
missed chance. As the Nigeriens continued to hold
up against the pressure, Mali
brought in Paris Saint Germain
defensive midfielder Mohamed
Sissoko, who returned to the
outfit late last year after nearly three years of absence. The
former Liverpool and Juventus
player brought more intensity to
his side, but they soon settled in
the game's regular kick and
move action, without any visible ambition in front of goals. The Mena began to grow in
confidence near the last quarter
of the game and had one of their
best goal chances in the 72nd
minute when team captain Moussa
Maazou's header from a corner kick floated slightly above the
crossbar. Mali's response was immediate.
An interplay between Samba
Diakite of Queens Park Rangers
and Keita saw the Dalian Aernin
player blasting a strike that
ricocheted off the crossbar. Niger's resistance began to wane
from fatigue as the Malians
continued to press. Keita opened
the scoring in the 84th minute
after collecting a loose ball during
a goalmouth scramble and pushing it softly to the side of Kassaly,
who was too crowded to see the
incoming danger. The scoreline remained unchanged
at 1-0 in favour of Mali until the
final whistle. The Eagles become
the first team at the 2013 Afcon
to bag all three points and are
now leaders of Group B after Ghana and DR Congo ended their
faceoff in a 2-2 draw.