Everton’s Iliman Ndiaye and Idrissa Gana Gueye got their Africa Cup of Nations campaign underway on Tuesday afternoon.
Senegal cruised to a comfortable victory against Botswana in the first of their group stage games.
David Moyes will have had an eye on how his two Everton stars got on, with everything crossed for the pair to come through the game without any injury issues.
Ahead of the game against Burnley this weekend, Moyes will remain without Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall as he recovers from his hamstring issue.
Losing Ndiaye and Gueye has been a major blow for the Toffees and they will not be expecting an early exit for Senegal.
And that became clear on Tuesday as the Lions of Teranga took all three points with ease in their opening game of the tournament.
How Iliman Ndiaye performed in Senegal’s AFCON opener
It proved a really comfortable afternoon for Senegal as they showed their quality against a Botswana side who were fortunate not to concede more than three.
Everton will not get Gueye and Ndiaye back until mid-January, but they will be glad to know that the pair got through their opening game unscathed.
It was a typically impressive showing for Ndiaye who proved a constant threat to the Botswana defence.
How much are Everton missing his creative spark? 😫
Good to see he was rested with Senegal cruising to victory!
Interestingly, the Everton winger was withdrawn after 69 minutes, but there was no apparent injury concern.
Given Senegal cruised to victory, it seemed as if their manager was keen to manage the minutes of his top players.
Edouard Mendy hailed Ndiaye as the best dribbler about and that was certainly on display as he danced around the Botswana players throughout his time on the pitch.
Next up for Senegal will be a game against the Democratic Republic of Congo on Saturday afternoon.
Idrissa Gana Gueye completes 90 minutes for Senegal
Unlike Ndiaye, Gueye played the entire match in Morocco as he showed his usual dominant self in the midfield.
Whilst he is away at AFCON, Tim Iroegbunam wants to win Gueye’s spot in midfield back at Everton on a permanent basis.
Tim Iroegbunam has some big boots to fill whilst Idrissa Gueye is away!
Just look at these numbers 🤯
However, the 36-year-old was in fine form as Senegal bossed their opening game of the tournament.
Everton find themselves light in midfield and the veteran is going to prove a big miss for the Blues whilst away on international duty.
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