Hosts Ivory Coast knock out title-holders Senegal in AFCON thriller

A week ago it looked as if the Ivorians were set for a humiliating group-stage exit from their own AFCON, but now they are into the quarter-finals after beating Senegal 5-4 on penalties following a tie that finished 1-1 at the end of extra time.

The Elephants scraped into the knockout phase with the worst record of the four best third-placed sides to advance, after finishing the first round with a humiliating 4-0 loss to Equatorial Guinea, their heaviest ever home defeat.

They followed that by sacking veteran French coach Jean-Louis Gasset and trying unsuccessfully to bring in former boss Hervé Renard on a short-term deal.

But instead former player Emerse Faé was appointed on an interim basis, hoping to rouse a shell-shocked team for a daunting tie against the holders.

It looked like being a trying evening for Ivory Coast in Yamoussoukro as Senegal went ahead in the fourth minute when Habib Diallo brought down Sadio Mané's cross from the left and finished emphatically.

Mané then escaped with a yellow card for a dangerous challenge on Ibrahim Sangaré soon after, although Senegal also felt hard done by early in the second half.

Ismaila Sarr went down in the box in a tangle of legs with Odilon Kossounou, but no penalty was given and the referee did not come across to review the incident on the pitchside monitor.

Instead, it was the Ivorians who won a late penalty of their own, a VAR review showing that Nicolas Pépé was chopped down by Senegal goalkeeper Edouard Mendy.

Franck Kessié of Saudi club Al Ahli, who was dropped to the bench at kick-off, converted the penalty to force extra time.

With no further scoring, it came down to penalties, and Senegal's Moussa Niakhaté was the only player to miss, seeing his effort strike