Idrissa Gueye Gana scored the winner to send Senegal into the last four of the Africa Cup of Nations for the first time since 2006 with a 1-0 win over Benin.
The Everton midfielder scored in the 69th minute to earn the Lions of Teranga a deserved victory over the Squirrels of Benin who reached the quarterfinals despite winning no game in the tournament.
Aliou Cisse’s men were the better side in the game but survived Alfred Gomis howler as he failed to clear a back pass that nearly resulted into an own goal.
Benin’s resilience was broken when Gueye combined well with Liverpool forward Sadio Mane to put the 2002 finalists in the lead.
Three minutes later, Mane was denied by VAR, used in the championship for the first time disallowing his goal which only video replay appeared legit.
Senegal held on to win the game and now wait for the winner between debutants Madagascar and Tunisia who face off in the other quarter final on Thursday.
Ironically, the last time Senegal reached the last four, Egypt hosted the tournamen
