Lassine Sinayoko stroked home a second-half penalty as Mali held on to frustrate Africa Cup of Nations hosts Morocco in Rabat tonight.
Brahim Diaz’s controversial opener, also from the spot, put Walid Regragui’s men in front at the break but Mali’s dogged approach reaped its rewards when Sinayoko slotted past Yassine Bounou to secure his side their second successive 1-1 draw.
Morocco, who were cheered on by Real Madrid and France superstar Kylian Mbappe, remain top of Group A with four points from two games and are virtually assured of a place in the knockout stages but they did little to justify their tag as tournament favourites.
Real Madrid midfielder Diaz was a calming presence in a frantic encounter and he curled a free-kick over the bar after just four minutes. He had another great chance shortly after the quarter-hour mark but saw his low shot superbly saved by Djigui Diarra.
Ayoub El Kaabi nodded over after 43 minutes and it seemed likely Morocco’s dominance would go unrewarded before the break. But after Diaz escaped down the right, he was partially halted by the stumbling Nathan Gassama. In the act of trying to keep his feet, Gassama was adjudged to have handled and referee Abdou Abdel Mefire pointed to the spot.
It seemed extremely harsh but Diaz showed no mercy, confidently slotting the spot-kick into the bottom left-hand corner.
Mali hit back
Mali levelled 13 minutes into the second period. Sinayoko burst through the heart of the Morocco defence only to be chopped down by Nayef Aguerd. Mystifyingly, Mefire waved play on only to change his mind when he viewed the incident again on the pitchside monitor.
Sinayoko scored, firing his shot underneath Bono, as Morocco conceded their first goal in 918 minutes.
Experienced striker Youssef En-Nesryi was sent on to provide some more physicality to the Morocco attack and it almost worked when he muscled his way into a shooting position but his low shot was superbly blocked by Diarra.
Mali survived one more scare and this one was self-inflicted.
With the 10 minutes of added on time almost up, Woyo Coulibaly attempted a risky back header under little pressure, forcing Diarra into a brilliant one-handed stop low to his right.
