Mali 1-1 Tunisia AET (Mali win 3-2 on penalties) – Keeper Diarra the shoot-out hero as 10-man Mali edge thriller to reach AFCON quarter-finals

Mali's 5' 10" goalkeeper Djigui Diarra stood tall when it mattered as he played a starring role in his country's penalty shoot-out win over Tunisia in their AFCON last 16 clash in Casablanca.

In a match that had drama by the bucket load, Mali were forced to play for more than an hour and a half with 10 men following the 26th-minute dismissal of Woyo Coulibaly for a late challenge. And, despite going a goal down in the dying moments of normal time, Mali snatched a last-gasp equaliser to take the game to extra time, before finishing the job in the shoot-out that followed.

Tunisia looked the brighter side in the early moments, and after Coulibaly's dismissal, it looked like it was only a matter of time before The Eagles of Carthage would make the breakthrough.

But a combination of wasteful play in the final third from Tunisia and dogged, determined play by Mali meant that, as the match headed into the closing moments, the tie still hung in the balance.

When substitute striker Firas Chaouat rose highest to head home with just two minutes left on the clock, it looked like Tunisia had finally broken the Malian resistance.

But the game was not quite over, and when Mali launched into a final attack and won a free-kick, the resulting delivery struck the arm of Yassine Meriah and the referee immediately pointed to the spot.

Mali striker Lassine Sinayoko was the coolest man in the stadium as he stepped up and buried the penalty to take the game into extra time.

A scrappy 30 minutes followed, with Tunisia briefly thinking they had netted the winner in the opening moments of the second period, only for Chaouat's effort to be ruled out for offside.

The tie eventually went to a penalty shoot-out and, despite Mali skipper Yves Bissouma missing his spot-kick, Tunisia's Ali Abdi repeated the feat to keep the tie in the balance. And when substitute Nene Dorgeles' effort cannoned back off the upright, it looked like the tie was there for the taking for Tunisia.

But up stepped Mali keeper Diarra, who saved from Elias Achouri, then from Mohamed Ben Romdhane to hand the chance for El Bilal Toure to score the winning penalty and send Mali into the quarter-finals.

Their opponents in the last eight will be Senegal, who punched their ticket to the quarters with a 3-1 win over Sudan earlier in the day.

After an incredible, incident-packed night in Casablanca, Mali are through to the AFCON quarter-finals!

Substitute Toure stepped up for the final spot-kick of the shoot-out, and after a stutter-step run-up, planted his shot into the back of the net as he sent the keeper the wrong way, and 10-man Mali are through.

A brilliant stop from the Mali keeper denies Ben Romdhane for Tunisia's fifth spot kick.

Now Mali have a chance to win it with the very next penalty...

The coollest spot-kick of the shoot-out so far from Diakite puts Mali back on level terms!

Mali's keeper has just made the save of his career to keep Mali in it!

More heartbreak for Mali as another spot-kick is missed!

The Tunisia sub coolly slots it into the bottom corner with ease. Very coolly done.

Mali's spot-kick specialist does his job, and we're all square after two penalty kicks each.

Tunisia's full-back has had a solid game, but that was another shocker of a spot-kick.

It's a truly awful penalty from the Tottenham man, as Mali make a nightmare start to this shoot-out.

The chance goes begging, and the referee blows the final whistle.

We are going to penalties in Casablanca!

There will be TWO MINUTES of additional time at the end of extra time, and Mali win a free kick on the left side of the Tunisia penalty area. Could this be the golden chance for the 10 men to snatch victory before the lottery of spot-kicks?

The second half of extra time has been a bitty, stop-start affair, and it's eaten up a lot of the clock. As a result, we're less than five minutes away from the end of extra time, and the introduction of a nerve-shredding penalty shoot-out.