ALBION star Yves Bissouma made his bow at AFCON after coming on as a substitute for Mali.
The midfielder is away from Albion duty as he is representing his nation in the Africa Cup of Nations.
Bissouma came on for Mali as a second half substitute in the 59th minute.
Mali were already 1-0 up thanks to a penalty from Ibrahima Kone 11 minutes earlier.
#AFCON2021 starts here for Mali! 🇲🇱 Good luck today, @Yves_Bissouma. 👏 pic.twitter.com/xdeVPkL3Hh
— Brighton & Hove Albion (@OfficialBHAFC) January 12, 2022
VAR did give Tunisia a penalty in the 75th minute, but Malian goalkeeper Ibrahim Mounkoro made a good save to deny Wahbi Khazri from scoring an equaliser.
Les Aigles did give themselves extra work as El Bilal Toure was given his marching orders for a challenge in the 88th minute.
There was a VAR check and the referee Janny Sikazwe was sent to watch the incident again but he stuck with his original decision.
The game then ended in controversial fashion as Sikazwe blew for full time before the clock had reached 90 minutes.
Despite protests from the Tunisia team the game ended in a 1-0 victory for Mali.
Les Aigles will now turn their attention to their next match against Gambia on Sunday.
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