Afcon 2021: 'Senegal have lacked efficiency in attacking department' - Cisse

Senegal coach Aliou Cisse has conceded his team has been lacking efficiency in attack which has seen them struggle in the group stage of the Africa Cup of Nations.

On Tuesday, the 2019 finalists were held to a goalless draw by Malawi, but Guinea's 2-1 loss to Zimbabwe ensured they topped Group B.

The result also meant the Teranga Lions scored just one goal in the groupt stage which came from a penalty against the Warriors, converted by Sadio Mane.

"I want to congratulate the players on the qualifications on the second round of matches," Cisse said after the stalemate as quoted by Caf Online.

"We got a good challenge from Malawi but I am happy we came back strongly in the second round but failed to utilise our chances. We have lacked efficiency at the front but we want to ensure we have a different strategy going into the next round of matches as we hope for more goals.

"I said from the word go that we should be humble as a team and even though many people expect us to win by big margins we have played formidable teams and the most important fact is that we have qualified as the top team in the group."

Malawi might be among the four best third-placed finishers which will be enough to see them advance. They are currently on four points and assistant coach Marian Marinica believes their objective has been reached.

"It's a tremendous achievement for Malawi to be able to get four points as we have been adapting a different system and the players managed to adapt and now we are on cloud nine," the tactician said.

"We played for the entire Malawi nation as the country has been experiencing problems like flooding and the good performance has given them a new spirit and encouragement.

"We have achieved our mission in the tournament despite myself and other players having suffered from Covid the team has been strong as we implemented our strategy against our tough opponents."

The Teranga Lions finished with five points, while Guinea managed four, Zimbabwe are at the bottom with three.