Senegal showed their resilience as they battled back from a goal down to secure a 1-1 draw against a spirited Democratic Republic of Congo side, stretching their strong run to eight wins in their last nine matches.
Fresh from an emphatic opening-day victory, the Lions of Teranga started brightly, peppering the DR Congo goal with nine attempts before the break.
However, wasteful finishing denied them a first-half breakthrough. Sadio Mané went closest when his curling free-kick deceived goalkeeper Lionel Mpasi but drifted narrowly wide, while Mpasi was later forced into action to tip Pape Gueye’s long-range strike around the post.
DR Congo briefly thought they had taken the lead before the interval when Aaron Wan-Bissaka found the net, but the effort was ruled out for offside.
The deadlock was eventually broken shortly after the restart, and against the run of play it was the Leopards who struck first.
Cedric Bakambu reacted quickest to slot home after Edouard Mendy spilled a routine save. Senegal responded almost immediately, with Mané finally getting on the scoresheet at the tournament by converting from close range just eight minutes later.
Buoyed by the equaliser, Senegal pushed for a winner and looked the more dangerous side, but the tempo dropped as the match wore on, allowing DR Congo to hold firm and claim a share of the points.
The result extends Senegal’s unbeaten head-to-head run against DR Congo to ten matches and keeps them top of the group on goal difference, setting up a decisive final round of fixtures on matchday three.
