Aguibou Camara’s second-half goal fired Guinea to a precious 1-0 victory over Gambia in Group C of the Africa Cup of Nations.
Both nations had failed to claim all three points in their tournament openers and were aware of the significance on this fixture towards their knockout stage hopes.
After a goalless first half in Yamoussoukro, Camera made the breakthrough with 21 minutes left when he slid home from Morgan Guilavogui’s cross and it proved enough to move Guinea up to four points ahead of their final group game with current leaders Senegal.
Gambia boss Tom Saintfiet shuffled his pack with five changes made from their opening loss to Senegal, but chances were few and far between early on.
Guinea almost took the lead in the 33rd minute, but Mohamed Bayo’s right-footed strike hit the post and it remained 0-0 at half-time.
Kaba Diawara’s Guinea continued to press for the opener and forced a number of corners before the deadlock was finally broken after 69 minutes.
Guilavogui was the architect for the goal after he collected Ibrahim Diakite’s pass and cut back for Camara to poke home after he beat Gambia defender James Gomez to the centre.
It sparked jubilant scenes from the Guinea team and it was almost 2-0 moments later, but Bayo struck the crossbar from close range.
Ex-Liverpool midfielder Naby Keita was introduced late on and he helped Guinea hold on for a potentially vital victory to claim a semblance of revenge after Gambia knocked them out of the 2021 edition in the last-16 stage.
Boehly says Chelsea masterplan is 'coming together'
Chelsea chairman Todd Boehly believes the Blues' plan is finally starting to come together, hailing the "beautiful football" played by Mauricio Pochettino's men in recent weeks.
Chelsea have spent over £1billion on players in less than two years under the Boehly regime, but they have had to wait to see any kind of return on that sizeable investment.
Following a dismal 12th-placed Premier League finish in 2022-23, Chelsea endured a difficult start to their first campaign under Pochettino, but a recent upturn has them eyeing European qualification.
Chelsea have only lost one of their last 12 Premier League games (six wins, five draws), beating Tottenham 2-0 and West Ham 5-0 in their last two to move into the top seven.
With games against Nottingham Forest, Brighton and Hove Albion and Bournemouth to come, the Blues have put themselves in with a chance of securing Europa League football for next season, and Boehly is delighted with their progress.
Speaking at a Sportico conference in Los Angeles on Wednesday, Boehly said: "We've seen the last two and a half games... in the second half at Aston Villa and against Tottenham and West Ham, we played beautiful football.
"It was so fluid, it was exactly the way we drew it up, when we came out of the back, built up and moved up the pitch, it was very organised, then the number of shots we had…
"In those two and a half games, you could really start to see what we were working on coming together."
Chelsea's 5-0 rout of West Ham last Sunday made it nine wins in their last 11 Premier League games at Stamford Bridge (one draw, one defeat).
Since the start of December, they have earned the joint-most home wins (nine, alongside Arsenal) and home points (28, level with Manchester City) in the Premier League.
Al Ahli 1-2 Al Hilal: Malcom saves league leaders' winning streak
Malcom’s stunning solo goal finished Al Hilal’s second-half comeback to earn a 2-1 win over Al Ahli in the Saudi Pro League on Monday.
The forward started his run from inside his own half before slotting in the winner, after teeing up Aleksandr Mitrovic for the equaliser just after the interval.
Feras Al Brikan had given Al Ahli the lead in the 30th minute, but the hosts could not hold onto it against the league leaders.
Al Hilal continue their unbeaten league campaign to a 30th match, moving 12 points clear at the top of the table, while Al Ahli remain in third, now 22 points off the AFC Champions League spot.
Data Debrief
Malcom was one of Al Hilal's most influential players; as well as playing a hand in both goals, he had the joint-most shots (five), and the joint-most shots on target (two), and created two chances for his team.
Al Ahli also struggled to cope with Mitrovic's threat, as the Serbian created an xG of 0.61 from his five shots, having 11 touches in the opposition box.
Ronaldo delivers another hat-trick as Al Nassr ease past Al Wedha
Cristiano Ronaldo crafted a decisive hat-trick as Al Nassr hammered Al Wedha 6-0 in Saturday's Saudi Pro League meeting.
Portugal veteran Ronaldo found the net twice in the first 12 minutes at Al Awal Park before completing his treble after the interval.
Sadio Mane teed up Ronaldo's third finish, as well as an 18th-minute strike from Otavio, who returned the favour for the Senegal international to score on the stroke of half-time.
Mohammed Al Fatil added a late sixth as Al Nassr recorded their seventh straight league win since their March 7 loss against Al Raed, moving them back within nine points of leaders Al Hilal.
Jorge Jesus's Al Hilal swept Al Tauwoon aside in a 3-0 away triumph on Friday for their fourth straight victory across all competitions.
Talisman Aleksandar Mitrovic opened the scoring at King Abdullah Sport City Stadium before Saud Abdulhamid and Saleh Alsherhi wrapped up a win that kept Al Hilal in charge of the title race.
There was no such fortune for fifth-placed Al Ittihad as they fell to a third straight defeat in all competitions after a 3-1 loss away against Abha.
Jota levelled after Grzegorz Krychowiak's 57th-minute penalty, only for Hassan Al-Ali and Fabian Noguera to power hosts Abha to a comfortable win.
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