A fully contested tie saw the two sides miss a penalty each late in the second half, eight minutes apart. Tunisia had the first after 72 minutes which Ferjani Sassi missed while Senegal had their own in the 80th minute, missed by Henri Saivet.

A Dylan Bronn own goal inside 10 minutes of added time saw Senegal book their first Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) final slot in 17 years after beating Tunisia’s Carthage Eagles 1-0 in a drama-filled match at the June 30 Stadium in Cairo on Sunday night.

There was more drama in the final six minutes when initially, referee Bamlak Tessema gave Tunisia a penalty after an apparent handball, but after consulting the Video Assistant Referee (VAR), overturned the decision.

Senegal, who are yet to win any Cup of Nations title despite playing the most number of matches at the flagship African tourney can now dare dream as their tactician Aliou Cisse makes history playing in two finals as a player (2002) and now as a coach.

Senegal should have been up by at least two goals by half time. The Lions of Teranga had literally the lion’s share of possession and chances in the opening 45 with one of the three tournament top scorers Sadio Mane having the best of the evening.

In the 37th minute, the Liverpool forward dribbled past keeper Hassen Mouez off a Mbaye Niang pass, but his eventual effort went wide. Just a minute before that, Niang had a good chance when off Mane’s touch from a Youssouf Sabaly cross, his shot on the half turn skied .