Africa Cup of Nations 2019: Senegal 0-1 Algeria - 3 reasons why Senegal lost

#1 An unfortunate deflection and effective tactics from the Algerians

The Algerians were dogged all through the game

Senegal had the worst possible start to the encounter. It took just 2 minutes for the Algerians to take hold of proceedings. Bounedjah beat Kouyate on the left, he then cut inside and saw his shot deflect off Sane's head and past Gomis into the goal.

The Desert Foxes didn't look back afterward, as they defended their lead with ruthless aggression.

They had little of the possession in the first half, but put in 13 tackles, committed 15 fouls (mostly professional and cynical violations), and cut down Sarr as well as Mane multiple times.

They resorted to long-ball tactics after the lead, as Bounedjah ran the channels, drawing fouls and providing an outlet for his teammates.

In the second half, Aliou Cisse threw in the kitchen sink, however, Algeria's defending was superb. The centre backs were great on the ground and in the air, even defensively shy Riyad Mahrez was in on the defending, making multiple tackles and clearing the ball twice with his head.

The Algerians outfoxed their opponents tactically and were deserved winners.