Sadio Mane converted a penalty more than six minutes into injury time as Senegal escaped with a 1-0 win over Zimbabwe to open their African Cup of Nations campaign.
Mane sent the goalkeeper the wrong way and drilled the penalty into the left-hand corner after Senegal produced a misfiring first performance in Cameroon for much of the game.
Senegal never looked like Africa’s top-ranked team, nor a team playing an opposition ranked 101 places below them.
But the chance for a winner finally came after Zimbabwe’s Kelvin Madzongwe was penalised 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 VAR. Madzongwe had thrown himself to the ground trying to block a shot and the ball struck his arm.
After Mane’s penalty, Escobar whistled for full-time as soon as Zimbabwe kicked off.
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 coronavirus.
The game was the first of four matches on the second day of AFCON. It was played in the western city of Bafoussam, where a tiny crowd turned up to watch one of the title favourites.
Senegal lost in the final to Algeria at the last African Cup of Nations in 2019 and are still searching for their first African title.
