Despite progressing to the Africa Cup of Nations semi-finals, Senegal boss Pape Thiaw urged his team to improve in the final third if they want a chance of lifting the title. 

Thiaw watched on as Iliman Ndiaye's 27th-minute goal was enough for Senegal to beat Mali, who saw captain Yves Bissouma sent off, 1-0 at Grand Stade de Tanger. 

Senegal have now reached the final four at AFCON in three of their last four participations, having failed to do so in each of their previous four appearances at the tournament.

They have also won four of their five games in the AFCON this year (D1), only managing more in a single edition in 2019 (five), where they finished as runners-up to Algeria. 

Despite having a man advantage, Senegal only generated an expected goals (xG) total of 1.55 from their 19 attempts, compared to Mali's 1.13 from their eight shots in the game. 

"It was not an easy match because we played against a very talented Mali team, but we achieved our objective," Thiaw said. 

"The Mali team has good qualities, and they created many challenges for us.

"If we had been more clinical in front of goal, we could have scored more goals, but what is more important today is for us to have qualified for the semi-final.

"We will look into our errors and look to correct them for our future matches. We hope that we will be more efficient in front of goal and have more luck in the future."

Senegal will either face defending champions Ivory Coast or Mohamed Salah's Egypt in the final four, with that quarter-final clash taking place on Saturday. 

But the defining moment came from the boot of Ndiaye, with the Everton forward tucking home from close range after Moussa Niakhate's cross was spilled by Djigui Diarra. 

Ndiaye netted his second goal with Senegal at AFCON, after his goal against Guinea in the group stage.

He is the first Everton player to find the net at the tournament since his team-mate Idrissa Gueye in July 2019 against Benin.

"I am happy to have won this award, but the most important thing is that we have progressed to the semi-finals of the competition," Ndiaye added.

"We played very well, and it shows that we are improving match after match.

"I am confident that my colleagues and I will focus on the next match to play at our best level and deliver for our fans."

Mali have now not won any of their last six AFCON games (D4 L2), equalling their longest winless run in the tournament's history (also six between 2015 and 2017).

But they were made to rue Bissouma's first-half stoppage time red card, with Mali becoming the third team to receive three red cards in the same AFCON edition since Opta began to collect these data (2010), after Algeria in 2010 and Ghana in 2012 (also three each).

"It was an interesting and difficult match for us because we had to play large parts of the game with ten men," Mali boss Tom Saintfiet said.

"But that doesn't take away the fact that my players played gallantly and played very well.

"I am proud of them for the performance they put up, not just in today's match but throughout the competition. We have shown the world what we are made of.

"Together with my staff, we will analyse our matches and see what we can do better in future."