Reality check as the Lions of Teranga take a healthy bite of the Warriors

At the end of the day, the gulf in class was all for everyone to see as Africa’s number one side lived up to its billing with a comfortable 2-0 win over Zimbabwe in the second round of Group B Africa Cup of Nations matches.

That it ended 2-0 did not tell the full story.

Kalisto Pasuwa’s men carried on fro their lacklustre second half performance against Algeria, losing balls poorly and inviting pressure.

While Algeria failed to take advantage of this, Senegal were not so forgiving and were soon ahead through Liverpool forward Sadio Mane turned the ball into a gaping goal in from a tight angle.

In the 14th minute Henri Saivet punished Zimbabwe with a delightful free kick from outside the box.

After that bar a five minute period in first half, it was all Senegal as they created chances at will.

Coach Kalisto Pasuwa tried to shake things up at half time, bringing on Evans Rusike and Tendai Ndoro on for Matthew Rusike and Kuda Mahachi but while the Warriors showed more intent, the Lions of Teranga continued to create chances with keeper Tatenda Mukuruva the only reason Senegal did not add to their rally.

A 2-0 scoreline flattered Zimbabwe and that will be their only saving grace as they take on Tunisia in the final group game on Monday. They beat Algeria 2-0 in an earlier match.

With this result, Senegal are through to the quarter finals,becoming the first team to do so.

On a side note, that this game, was played in front of a crowd of under 4,000 is worrying and shocking.

For live updates of how it happened, click here