Sako penalty earns Mali a draw

Paris - Bakary Sako converted a 71st-minute penalty to earn Mali a 1-1 draw with fellow west Africans Ghana in a friendly on Tuesday.

The striker, who plays for Wolverhampton Wanderers in the English second tier, equalised after Ghana's Richmond Yiadom Boakye had needlessly tugged down Molly Wague at the Stade Charlety in the suburbs of Paris.

Ghana opened the scoring when Emmanuel Agyemang Badu got to Yiadom Boakye's pass just ahead of Mali goalkeeper Souleymane Diakite and took the ball past him to tap into an empty net in the 53rd minute.

Yiadom Boakye almost grabbed a winner but struck the upright 10 minutes from time.

It was a second game in four days for Avram Grant's Ghana, who lost 2-1 to Senegal in Le Havre on Saturday.

Mali were playing their second game since appointing Alain Giresse as coach, having lost 4-3 to Gabon in Beauvais last Wednesday.