January 15, (THEWILL) – The current African Cup of Nations champions Senegal recorded a comprehensive 3-0 victory over 10-man Gambia on Monday, to get their title defence campaign off to a winning start. Pape Gueye opened the scoring for Senegal just four minutes into the match.
Gambia were then reduced to 10 players on the stroke of half-time when midfielder Ebou Adams was sent off. Lamine Camara doubled Senegal’s lead seven minutes after the break before wrapping up the victory in style late on with a stunning 25-yard curling strike.
Senegal took an early lead following a well-worked move in the 4th minute. Sadio Mané laid the ball to Pape Gueye on the edge of the box after a clearance, and Gueye smashed in a first-time shot into the bottom corner. Gambia had chances themselves, with Musa Barrow firing just wide and Ali Sowe heading a corner over. However, Gambia’s task was made much harder just before half-time, when Adams was shown a red card in the 8th minute of first-half stoppage time.
The extra man proved crucial, as Camara doubled Senegal’s lead seven minutes into the second half after being played through by Ismaila Sarr. Gambia nearly gifted a 3rd when Minteh’s pass found Habib Diallo unmarked in the 6-yard box, but keeper Gaye made a close-range smothering save.
Later on, Camara wrapped up the win in stunning fashion, curling a long-range first-time shot into the top corner from Ndiaye’s cutback.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
