Senegal beat Namibia 2-0

Senegal beat Namibia 2-0 in an Afcon 2017 qualifier in Windhoek on Saturday to kill off any hopes Namibia had of qualifying for the finals.

Goals by Cheikou Kouyate on 36 minutes and Sadio Mane on 56 minutes gave Senegal a comfortable victory which strengthened their position at the top of Group K.

In the other Group K match, Burundi beat Niger 2-0 in Bujumbura. Senegal is top of the group on six points, and Burundi and Niger are both on three points, while Namibia still has to open its account.

Namibian striker Peter Shalulile shot wide early on but Senegal started to threaten with Pape Souare and Idrissa Gueye supplying crosses from the wings while Sadio Mane displayed tricky dribbling skills in the box.

Petrus Shitembi put in a fine run but Shalulile failed to finish it off on 34 minutes, and Senegal took the lead two minutes later when Cheikou Kouyate rose high to head home from a corner.

Sadio Mane made it 2-0 early in the second half when he received the ball in space and shot into the left hand corner past a diving Virgil Vries.

Namibian coach Ricardo Mannetti brought on Willy Stephanus and Hendrik Somaeb and more chances started to go Namibia’s way.

A Stephanus shot from a corner was blocked by the defence, while Senegal goalie Abdoulaye Diallo pulled off a great save from a cracking shot by Stephanus.

Shalulile also headed over the bar from a cross by Ananias Gebhardt while Somaeb headed wide from a Shitembi cross.

But Senegal’s defence stood firm as they held on for a valuable win.

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