Diarra the hero as 10 man Mali knock out Tunisia to book Senegal in Quarters

Despite playing 10 men for nearly 100 minutes after Woyo Coulibally was sent off,resilient Mali eliminated Tunisia 3-2 in post match penalties in the 2nd round of 16 match at the 35th AFCON in Morocco.

The match staged at the 45,000 Mohammed V stadium in Casablanca ended barren in the 1st half with both sides creating few scoring opportunities.

Tunisia took the lead two minutes from time through Firas Chaouat via a header after the Mali defense was caught napping .

Hard fighting Mali never gave up as they kept sending numbers upfront and won a penalty which was calmly converted by Lassine Sinayoko in the 2nd last minute of the added 6 minutes to send the battle into extra time.

Both sides were inseparable and Mali emerged victorious in the spot kicks as Djigui Diarra saved two penalties to send his side into the last 8 where they are set to face Senegal on Saturday.