Old habits die hard! Malawi National Football Team, the Flames, conceded in the dying minutes as they went down 1-0 to Senegal in a TotalErnegies Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) qualifier at Bingu National Stadium in Lilongwe yesterday.
It was a painful defeat for the Flames, who matched the Lions of Teranga for the entire 90 minutes of the match.
The match was destined for a goal-less stalemate and the Flames thought they had done enough to get their first point of the qualifiers.
But Ethiopian referee Bamlak Weyesa awarded the Lions of Teranga a free-kick on the edge of the box.
Up stepped Sadio Mane to make the difference.
Mane curled the ball over the Flames human wall into the bottom corner as goalkeeper William Thole, who had a grand game, was left helpless.
It was heartbreak for the Flames and the home crowd, which included Vice President Michael Usi.
The result means the Flames have lost four consecutive matches in the Afcon qualifiers— the worst since the 2022 Fifa World Cup qualifiers when they were playing on a borrowed home at Orlando Stadium in South Africa.
The Flames are stuck at the bottom of Group L without a point from four matches.
For Senegal, the result means they have joined Burkina Faso at next year’s Afcon finals to be staged in Morocco, rendering the two remaining matches academic.
Unlike last week away in Senegal, where they lost 4-0, it was an improved performance from the Flames.
The Flames created some chances but were wasteful in front of the goal.
Wisdom Mpinganjira had two opportunities but fluffed them in the first half before captain John Banda wasted a good chance.
On the other hand, Senegal also wasted some chances during the match.
Mane, Kalidou Koulibaly and Nickolas Jackson also wasted some opportunities in the first half, coupled with impressive goalkeeping from Thole.
After the break, Senegal made a double substitution as they introduced Iliman N’Diaye and Pape Allassane Gueye for Idrissa Gueye and Mouhamdou Diarra.
Flames coach Patrick Mabedi responded with a double substitution as he introduced Chifundo Mphasi and Lloyd Aaron for Chawanangwa Kaonga and Lanjesi Nkhoma.
However, the Lions of Teranga continued their dominance as they piled more pressure on the Flames.
Patrick Mwaungulu nearly caught Senegal’s goalkeeper off-guard with a wonderful strike but the latter was quick to react.
With 10 minutes to full time, the visitors upped their game as they came wave after wave.
However, Mane missed a chance from close range after an exchange of passes with Ismaila Sarr and Iliman.
Finally, the Flames succumbed to pressure from the visitors in added time.
A visibly dejected Mabedi and his charges trooped out of the facility amid a chorus of boos from the home crowd.
Mabedi made two changes from the side that lost 4-0 in Senegal as Thole and MacDonald Lameck replaced Brighton Munthali (suspended) and Stanley Sanudi.
Since November last year, Mabedi has only managed two wins and registered eight losses in all competitions.
Despite the defeat, Mabedi said there were positives that could be drawn from the match.
“I am proud of the boys as we created chances but, unfortunately, we did not take our chances,” Mabedi said.
On his part, Senegal interim coach Pape Thiaw admitted that the Flames gave them a good run for their money.
The Flames will face Burundi and Burkina Faso next month.
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