Senegal star Sadio Mane scored a 98th-minute penalty in a 1-0 win over Rwanda to maintain the African champions’ perfect start to 2023 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying.
The forward settled a drab encounter in the Senegalese capital Dakar when holding his nerve to drill home and finally break Rwanda’s resistance.
It is the second time this year the Liverpool forward, heavily linked with a move to Bayern Munich, has converted a spot-kick deep into added time, after his 97th-minute winner against Zimbabwe in Senegal’s opening Nations Cup game in Cameroon.
Mane – who also scored the winning penalty in the Nations Cup final – is enjoyable a memorable spell after netting a hat-trick in Saturday’s win over Benin to become the Teranga Lions’ record goalscorer.
Despite playing in Dakar in what was actually a nominal home tie for Rwanda, the Nations Cup winners – Chelsea goalkeeper Edouard Mendy, Napoli’s Kalidou Koulibaly and PSG’s Idrissa Gueye among them – struggled for form.
Senegal have played their opening two qualifiers at home, with Rwanda reversing Tuesday’s match to enable them to continue renovations on their Amahoro Stadium in Kigali.
The Teranga Lions are five points clear in Group L after just two games, but Benin and Mozambique – who have played just once – meet on Wednesday.