A 65th-minute strike by Philippe Paulin Keny was enough for Senegal to overcome Benin 1-0 in their Wafu Cup of Nations quarter-final encounter at the Stade Lat Dior.
The LB Chateauroux forward wasn’t included in the starting line-up but rewarded Sergine Saliou Dia’s faith by scoring the winner off the bench just after the hour mark.
The host nation huffed and puffed in the opening half without success, with Benin proving to be really difficult to break down.
Promising Jerome Bonou, the Squirrels’ hero in their 2-1 success against Guinea in the previous round, featured in Thursday’s game in Thies hoping for lightning to strike twice.
However, the midfielder couldn’t repeat his heroics and Moussa Latoundji’s team failed to advance to the Championship semi-final.
Following their progress, Senegal are the first team to advance from the last eight and will face either Sierra Leone or Mali in the final four.
The Leone Stars and the Eagles clash in the final Championship quarter-final matchup on Sunday night, with the winner going on to play the Teranga Lions.
The other semi-final will be contested between Ghana or Burkina Faso and Togo or Ivory Coast.
The former face off on Friday, October 4 with the latter playing on Saturday.
Earlier on Thursday, in the first Plate quarter-final between Guinea and Guinea-Bissau, goals from Ousmane Camara and Victor Kantabadouno saw the Syli Nationale win 2-0.
Guinea-Bissau were the first team to be eliminated from the competition.
In the other Plate quarter-final encounters, Gambia play Mauritania, Nigeria do battle with Cape Verde and Niger slug it out with Liberia on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, respectively.
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