Full time: Senegal 2-2 Algeria
Peep peep! A much-fancied Algeria side go out of the Africa Cup of Nations at the group stage, without winning a game. They needed to beat Senegal and hope Zimbabwe won against Tunisia. Neither happened, so they are off to catch Flight DO1. Senegal, the group winners, will play Cameroon in the quarter-finals, and Tunisia will meet Burkina Faso. Thanks for your company, goodnight!
88 min Mahrez misses an excellent chance to win it, sidefooting over with his right foot after a good return pass from Ghezzal.
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86 min “Evening Rob,” says Simon McMahon. “I don’t think the internet has reached Orkney yet. And even if it has, they’ll be too busy fishing and milking cows to notice. Said affectionately by a fellow Scot, of course. You know, just in case.”
85 min Sow’s blocked shot breaks to Diame, whose well-struck volley from 25 yards is too close to Asselah.
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83 min Another Algeria substitution; Ghezzal replaces the impressive Hanni, who made Slimani’s first goal and should have made his third.
83 min For a game that was rendered meaningless after 15 minutes this has been pretty enjoyable.
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81 min The two teams are running out of time if they want to score a winner, or start a brawl. It seems Slimani came off with an injury; his thigh is being strapped as he reclines on the bench.
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80 min Slimani’s tournament is over. He is replaced by Baghdad Bounedjah.
79 min Algeria should just turn up for the quarter-final against Burkina Faso and then, when questioned, cite alternative facts that show they finished second in the group.
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78 min Another Senegal substitution: Idrissa Gueye of Everton replaces N’Diaye.
77 min Slimani misses a golden chance for a hat-trick. He was put through by a cracking pass from Hanni and had lots of time to consider his shot as N’Diaye came out. He tried to sidefoot it into the far corner and put it a couple of yards wide.
76 min “Seeing as how the high-flying Sadio Mané is being rested today and doesn’t have to play for his country again until Saturday 28 January,” says Peter Oh, “surely he will be allowed to hop on a plane back to Liverpool for the EFL Cup semi-final 2nd leg against Southampton on Wednesday 25 January before re-joining his Senegal teammates?”
Yes, Fifa are keen to do everything they can to bring the EFL Cup into the 21st century. I think their next plan is to make it a 48,128,256,512-team tournament.
75 min Hanni’s ambitious long-range shot is fumbled by N’Diaye, who claims it at the second attempt under pressure from Slimani.
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74 min Diedhiou is booked for booting Mandi, who yelps with pain.
70 min A Senegal change: Mbodji off, Famara Diedhiou on.
69 min “The timing of this tournament is designed to prevent Liverpool from signing the second Salif Diao or the new El Hadji Diouf,” says Ian Copestake. “So for that I thank it.”
You need more empathy in your latte mate.
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67 min The game is starting to peter out now, though fisticuffs should not be completely ruled out. Slimani follows a backheader to the keeper N’Diaye, who claims it and then goes down laughably after the merest contact with Slimani.
63 min Does anyone reading this live in Orkney?
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61 min Cadamuro, who was booked a moment ago, clatters Diop in the face with a leading arm. He’s pretty lucky to stay on the pitch.
61 min Mahrez has been superb today, with some glorious touches. I wonder where he’ll be playing next season. He is good enough for any team in the world.
60 min Zimbabwe have scored another goal against Tunisia, to reduce the deficit to 4-2.
59 min “Marcellus would have voted for Obama - and made all his clan follow suit - but not Clinton,” says Charles Antaki. “Butch wouldn’t have voted at all. And we can hazard a fairly good guess at who the guys in the pawn shop would have favoured.”
So who voted for Pedro?
58 min Sarr rolls over spectacularly and repeatedly after a foul by Cadamuro, who is booked. I think it was the fall rather than the foul that caused Sarr’s pain.-
56 min “Evening Rob,” says David Horn. “Sorry to email in and all, with your Communication Vacuum Record only 40 minutes from completion ... but I’ve diligently used Apple-F (hipster CTRL-F) to search for Sadio Mané, and not found a mention. Assuming & hoping, on behalf of Liverpool (and Senegal!) fans, he’s being rested as Senegal top the group, rather than he’s broken his arm / leg. Right? Right!!”
He’s already scored two goals at each end; the reason you couldn’t find him is that I couldn’t be bothered to put the accent on the E.
(No, you’re right, he’s being rested along with nine others.)
GOAL! Senegal 2-2 Algeria (Sow 54)
Sow makes a silk purse out of a half-chance to bring Senegal level straight away. A loose ball broke to him 20 yards from goal, and he blasted a low first-time shot across Asselah and into the corner. That’s an excellent goal.
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GOAL! Senegal 1-2 Algeria (Slimani 52)
Slimani shanks Algeria into the lead. It was made by the superb Mahrez, who moved into the box on the right and teased a lofted pass to Slimani at the far post. He took it on his chest and then, as it bounced up awkwardly, inadvertently sliced a dismal looping shot beyond the reach of N’Diaye. N’Doye got back to hoof it clear off the bar but the ball had crossed the line.
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52 min I suppose this is good news for Leicester at least.
50 min A chance for Senegal. Ciss fizzes a good pass along the line of the penalty area; Sarr arrives on the other side, opens up his body and sidefoots a few yards wide. It was a pretty unconvincing attempt.
46 min Peep peep! Algeria begin the second half with nothing to play for except pride, and we know what Marsellus Wallace said about that.
In happier news, we’re still on course for a record: the first Guardian liveblog with absolutely no emails. Don’t let me down now!
Half time: Senegal 1-1 Algeria
That was a pretty miserable half for Algeria - not so much in this game but because Tunisia are 4-1 ahead against Zimbabwe, and that means Algeria will be on Flight DO1 tonight. See you in 10 minutes for the second half.
45 min More goals in the other group match: it’s Zimbabwe 1-4 Tunisia.
GOAL! Senegal 1-1 Algeria (Diop 41)
Senegal are level. Sarr’s cross is half cleared by the head of Mandi. It comes to Dop, backing up the play just outside the D, and he bobbles a volley through a posse of defenders and past the unsighted Asselah.
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40 min Ciss finds N’Diaye, who scoops a shot miles wide from the edge of the box.
39 min Now Bentaleb is booked for a high tackle on Ciss. There is a bit more pushing and shoving. This match has encouraging potential for a brawl.
39 min Ghoulam is booked for a cynical trip on Diame.
38 min It’s now Zimbabwe 0-3 Tunisia, which means Algeria are definitely, absolutely, almost certainly out of the tournament.
37 min Konate flicks a header over the bar from a right-wing corner. Asselah had it covered.
32 min Mahrez almost scores a gorgeous goal. His extravagant flick near the halfway line sent two defenders off to the wrong fire and allowed Brahimi to move forward into space. He then returned the ball to Mahrez, who surged into the area and hit a right-footed shot that was blocked by the legs of the keeper N’Diaye.
30 min Senegal have a free-kick 30 yards from goal. Sow slams it into the chest of Slimani, who is penalised for handball. That means another free-kick just outside the box. This one hits the legs of one the defenders in the wall, and after much consideration the referee decides not to penalise him for handball.
29 min There have been a few, a-hem, zealous tackles in this game, and there’s another from Guedioura on Diop. You have to work quite hard to get booked in this tournament, and so far nobody has managed it.
27 min Algeria are starting to enjoy themselves, playing with the freedom of the buggered. Mahrez dupes Ciss with a lovely, Waddleish piece of skill before his cross is crucially intercepted by Mbodji.
23 min Goodnight Algeria: Tunisia now lead Zimbabwe 2-0, and are going through to the quarter-finals with Senegal.
21 min Konate plays a nice, semi-disguised through pass to Sow. He tries to go round the outrushing keeper Asselah, who gets down smartly to his left to save. That was Senegal B’s best chance; Sow’s touch was too soft and that brought Asselah into the game.
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18 min Ciss jumps over a challenge from Meftah in the box, prompting a mini appeal for a penalty. I think Meftah aborted the challenge in time, and there weren’t any protests.
15 min There wasn’t much in that shoving match and the players soon calmed down. Sarr seems okay.
14 min Slimani fouls Sarr, and then Hanni treads on his ankle as he falls. I don’t know if it was deliberate but Sarr screamed in pain and now players on both sides are shoving each other.
13 min Almost a second for Algeria. Mahrez’s excellent corner from the right was flicked on by Steve Bould Hanni at the near post, and the stretching Mandi studded it wide at the far post. He was at full stretch and couldn’t quite get enough of his boot on the ball.
Tunisia’s goal was scored by Naim Sliti, a deflected long-range strike. As it stands they will play Burkina Faso in the quarters.
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GOAL! Senegal 0-1 Algeria (Slimani 9)
Algeria have taken the lead. Trouble is, so have Tunisia against Zimbabwe. It was a good goal from Algeria, with Slimani sidefooting Hanni’s terrific cross into the net on the volley. But they are out unless Zimbabwe win the other match.
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7 min A corner to Senegal on the right. Diop delivers and you’re one clears at the near post.
6 min Algeria work up enough enthusiasm to cross the halfway line, and Hanni even gets into the box on the left before his cross is blocked.
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3 min Senegal’s B team may have nothing to play for but football itself, yet they have started with much greater confidence and urgency than Algeria.
1 min Senegal make a flying start, with Sarr on the right of the box driving a vicious low ball right across the face of goal.
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1 min A grown man puts a whistle to his mouth, and a sporting contest thus commences. Senegal are in white, kicking from left to right; Algeria are in green.
Just before we kick off, here’s some Senegalese porn.
Senegal, who are guaranteed to top the group, have rested 10 players ahead of Saturday’s quarter-final against Cameroon. Kara Mbodji is the only player who survives from the win over Zimbabwe.
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This is tremendous PSV supporter and astonishing genius Michael van Gerwen parades his world title at the Philips Stadion.
Some pre-match reading
Team news
Senegal (possible 3-4-3) K N’Diaye; Ciss, Mbodji, Z Toure; Diame, N’Doye, P N’Diaye, Diop; Konate, Sow, I Sarr.
Algeria (possible 4-2-3-1) Asselah; Meftah, Mandi, Cadamuro, Ghoulam; Bentaleb, Guédioura; Mahrez, Hanni, Brahimi; Slimani.
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Our main focus tonight will be Senegal v Algeria, though we’ll have goal updates from Tunisia v Zimbabwe. It’d be crude not to.
Preamble
Hello. The Senegal coach Aliou Cisse describes this match the African Clásico. But tonight, Matthew, Senegal and Algeria don’t meet as equals. Senegal, the team of the tournament so far, are already guaranteed to top Group B and play Cameroon in the quarter-finals. Algeria need snookers if they are to reach the last eight and play Burkina Faso.
Algeria were one of the favourites for this tournament, but thus far they have had a stinker: they drew 2-2 with Zimbabwe and lost the North African derby against Tunisia 2-1. That Tunisia defeat was especially costly; with head-to-head record being used to split teams who finish level, Tunisia need only a draw against Zimbabwe to put Algeria out.
Even if Tunisia lose that game, Algeria must beat Senegal - who want revenge for 2015 - and then hope their goal difference is better than Zimbabwe’s. Best of luck, gentlemen.
Kick off is at 7pm.
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