The Africa Cup of Nations title defence for Senegal began with a 3-0 win over 10-man Gambia, with Lamine Camara scoring twice in Group C. This victory brought an end to the series of unexpected results at the tournament in the Ivory Coast.
After a surprising day on Sunday where underdogs had the upper hand over strong opponents, Senegal reinstated confidence in the expected outcome with an early goal from Pape Gueye and two more goals from Camara in the opening Group C match.
Gueye scored the first goal in the fourth minute at the Charles Konan Banny Stadium, while 20-year-old Camara, named Young African Player of the Year in 2023, demonstrated his potential with a fine goal seven minutes into the second half and a brilliant second goal into the top corner four minutes from time.
Gambia’s situation was made more difficult when Ebou Adams was sent off for a reckless tackle on Camara in stoppage time at the end of the first half, leaving Gambia at a disadvantage for the second half.
The early goal and Adams’ red card made the match challenging for Gambia, as Gueye scored after being set up by Sadio Mane. Gambia captain Omar Colley’s poor clearance found Mane unmarked on the left, and he laid the ball back for Gueye to score.
Adams initially received a caution for the tackle on Camara, but after a VAR check, it was changed to a red card, resulting in the Cardiff City defender being banned for the next two matches.
Two simple passes from deep in defence led to Senegal doubling the score, as captain Kalidou Koulibaly found Ismaila Sarr in midfield, who then played a defense-splitting pass for Camara to run onto and score.
Iliman Ndiaye’s dribbling on the right of the attack set up the third goal, as Ndiaye worked his way across the penalty box before passing for Camara to score.
Gambia, who surprised with a quarter-final appearance in the last Cup of Nations two years ago, offered little in attack apart from an early shot from Musa Barrow that Senegal goalkeeper Edouard Mendy saved.
Later on Monday, Cameroon and Guinea will meet in the second Group C game in the Ivorian capital.
(Reporting by Mark Gleeson; Editing by Ken Ferris and Christian Radnedge)
