Côte d’Ivoire have bounced back at the Africa Cup. Thanks in part to BVB pro Sebastien Haller, they beat Senegal 5-4 on penalties.

Borussia Dortmund currently has no shortage of strikers. Niclas Füllkrug made a comeback with his treble in the 3:1 win against VfL Bochum. Alongside him, Youssoufa Moukoko, who was successful as a wild card in the previous weeks, had a good game. And now there is also good news from BVB’s third center forward.

Sebastien Haller is with the Ivory Coast at the Africa Cup and has contributed to a real coup there. After a 1-1 draw in regular time, the Ivory Coast beat Senegal 5-4 on penalties. Haller also scored. A round of 16 match that few would have expected.

After all, the hosts have so far marched through the tournament with anything but aplomb. The Ivory Coast finished third in the group with Equatorial Guinea, Nigeria and Guinea-Bissau and just made it into the knockout round as the fourth-best third-placed team in the group. It was clear that a group winner would be waiting there. With Senegal, it was the defending champions.

Senegal take an early lead, Ivory Coast hit back shortly before the end

And it initially seemed to steer the game in the expected direction. Just four minutes into the game, Habib Diallo tucked a shot under the crossbar following an assist from ex-Bayern star Sadio Mané. The Ivory Coast were heading for an early exit from the home tournament after their embarrassing 4-0 loss to Equatorial Guinea in the group stage.

Even Haller, who came on for Jean-Philippe Krasso after 72 minutes, was initially unable to do anything about it. Instead, Senegal keeper Edouard Mendy denied Nicolas Pépé, which resulted in a penalty after a minute-long VAR check. Franck Kessié stepped up and converted the penalty to equalize (86′). Extra time.

Because nothing worth mentioning happened there, a penalty shoot-out was required. After ex-Mainzer Moussa Niakhaté, who was actually known as a reliable penalty taker for the Rheinhessen, hit the post with the score at 2:2, Haller was given the chance. The Dortmund player did better and scored into the left corner to make it 3:2 for the Ivory Coast. The Ivorians did not let this lead slip away and after Kessié had once again scored the decisive penalty, the celebrations knew no bounds. Côte d’Ivoire, for whom Bayer Leverkusen’s Odilon Kossounou also played, will now face Mali or Burkina Faso in the quarter-finals.