The Malawi National Football Team (the Flames) suffered their third straight defeat in Group L of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers following a 4-0 defeat away to Senegal in the first of the two back-to-back qualifying matches.
Flames mentor Patrick Mabedi made six changes to the side that lost 3-1 to Burkina Faso by handing starts to Brighton Munthali, Lloyd Njaliwa, Timothy Silwimba, Patrick Mwaungulu, John Banda and Wisdom Mpinganjira.
But just 16 minutes into the match, the visitors suffered a blow when Munthali was shown a straight red card following a foul on Sadio Mane outside the penalty box.
This forced Mabedi to sacrifice Mwaungulu for George Chikooka.
Playing with a one-man disadvantage against one of the African giants was a tall order for the visitors who were now sitting deep into their half to defend against a high-pressing side.
But they couldn’t defend for too long as Pape Gueye netted a beauty outside the penalty box, beating Chikooka before hitting the roof of the net, 1-0.
In all fairness, the scoreline wasn’t a true reflection of the match as the Lions of Teranga were completely dominant and created plenty of goal-scoring opportunities, but they lacked the finishing composure in the final third, and the two teams went to the break with Senegal leading 1-0.
After the recess, Mabedi brought in Chimwemwe Idana for Chawanangwa Kaonga.
The hosts continued from where they stopped in the first half by pressing for more goals but Malawi defended well to frustrate the dominating side.
With 58 minutes played on the clock, Mabedi introduced Yamikani Chester for Lanjesi Nkhoma to try to improve his attacking prowess.
The hosts thought they had doubled their lead just after the hour mark through Mane but his brilliant finish was ruled out for offside.
Senegal brought in Boulaye Dia and Cherif Ndiaye for Iliman Ndiaye and Lamine Camara.
The hosts had a chance in the 66th minute when Mane’s cross bound for Ndiaye missed the target with an inch as Malawi’s defence was completely caught napping in the line of duty.
The Lions of Teranga doubled their lead in the 68th minute when Dennis Chembezi gave away the ball to Ndiaye who spotted Mane to the far left of the attacking box.
The former Southampton, Bayern Munich, and Liverpool forward made no mistake in unleashing a powerful shot that was just too much for Chikooka to handle, 2-0.
Before they concluded their celebrations, the hosts were at it again, celebrating their third goal through Dia who rounded off Nickson Mwase and Chikooka before slotting the ball home in the 71st minute, 3-0.
Senegal showed no signs of slowing down, and they added their fourth goal in the 75th minute through Chelsea striker Nicolas Jackson, who saw his powerful shot beat Chikooka to his left-hand side, 4-0.
Mabedi brought in Zeliat Nkhoma for Njaliwa.
The Senegalese kept on pushing for more as Dia saw his attempt inside the six-yard box in the 80th minute well cleared by Chembezi and moments later, Mane almost doubled his tally when his shot missed Chikooka’s right-hand post with an inch in the 83rd minute.
Mane missed another glorious opportunity inside the additional minutes when his shot passed across the face of Malawi’s goal and in the end, the hosts collected the three points to go top of Group L with 7 points, level with Burkina Faso but with a superior goal difference.
As for the Flames, they are anchoring the table with no point, having lost all three games, and they will now play host to Senegal on Tuesday at Bingu National Stadium.
They have conceded ten goals from which they have scored three.
