Mali came from behind to tie the match with Angola 3-3 on their debut at the African Nations Championship.Striker Depú scored twice and assisted Gilberto for Angola’s third goal but the Palancas Negras defense suffered a meltdown, conceding two goals in the final fifteen minutes to allow Mali back level. Hamidou Sinayoko, Yoro Diaby and Ousmane Coulibaly all scored for Les Aigles who earned a crucial point ahead of their second match against Mauritania next Tuesday. Angola will have their duel against Mauritania on Friday in what now is a must win for the Palancas.

It looked like Angola were going to march on to victory after a dream start that saw them dominate the flanks thanks to the efforts of Petro de Luanda fullbacks Tó Carneiro and Eddie Afonso. Following sustained pressure from the Palancas in the opening ten minutes it was Afonso who combined with Gilberto to get open on the right wing before providing a perfect cross for Depú to meet at the far post with a sliding finish past Mali goalkeeper Germain Berthé.

Mali responded ten minutes later through veteran Djoliba AC striker Sinayoko, who followed up to slam in after poor Angolan marking allowed Djibril Coulibaly’s corner kick to bounce in the six-yard box. The Angolans kept dominating play on the flanks, however, and Depú once again made a far post run to meet Carneiro’s cross with a leaping header in the 26th minute.

Angola continued to control the run of play after halftime while showing some defensive weaknesses that would come back to haunt them later on. In the 72nd minute it appeared that the Palancas had three points sealed when substitute Julinho held the ball up on the right wing and laid back for Depú, whose cross picked out Gilberto for yet another far post finish past Berthé.

It was game on six minutes later when poor set piece marking from Angola allowed Mali center back Diaby to leap uncontested and powerfully head in Ousmane Coulibaly’s corner kick. Coulibaly wrapped up an excellent twenty minute substitute cameo to poke home past Angola keeper Hugo Marques from six yards out after center back Lulas failed to deal with a low cross from from the left wing. Mali celebrated a draw that felt like a win when the full time whistle arrived, giving the 2020 CHAN runners-up plenty of wind in their sails.

By Brian Mboh