Hosts Côte d’Ivoire are into the semi-finals of the Africa Cup of Nations after the 10-man Elephants defeated the Eagles of Mali 2-1 at the Peace Stadium of Bouaké on Saturday night.

Sixteen minutes into the quarter-final clash, Mali had the opportunity to grab the lead from the penalty spot following a foul on Lassine Sinayoko inside the box, but goalkeeper Yahia Fofona saved Adama Traore’s effort.

A few minutes before the halftime break, Côte d’Ivoire’s woes were compounded when they were forced down to 10 players after Odilon Kossounou picked up a second yellow card.

The red card benefited the Malians as they had control of the game and finally took the lead in the 71st-minute courtesy of a well-placed curler by Nene Dorgeles into the top corner of the net from yards out.

Mali were one leg into the last four of the tournament until the 90th minute when Simon Adingra scored with a loose ball inside the Eagles’ box to equalise for Côte d’Ivoire and send the game into extra time.

Less than 60 seconds before the game was supposed to go into a penalty shootout, Oumar Diakite backflipped a rebounded shot from Seko Fofana to book Côte d’Ivoire’s spot in the AFCON semi-finals.

Côte d’Ivoire will now face DR Congo, who defeated Guinea 3-1 in their quarter-final match, for a place in the final of this year’s tournament.