Nicolas Jackson scored twice as Senegal started its Africa Cup of Nations title bid with a 3-0 win over Botswana on Tuesday.

Substitute Cherif Ndiaye completed the scoring after Botswana goalkeeper Goitseone Phoko had prevented worse for the Zebras, who lined up with five at the back and were pinned back for most of the game.

The official attendance in the 68,000-capacity Grand Stade de Tanger was just over 18,500.

Heavy rainfall likely kept neutral fans away. It kept pouring on the third day of what is shaping up to be the wettest and coldest Africa Cup to date.

Jackson misses several chances

Jackson, who has had limited opportunities at Bayern Munich since his switch from Chelsea, missed a host of chances. The first came early with Phoko getting the better of their one-on-one, before Pape Gueye fired over, and Phoko made another great save to deny Sadio Mané.

Many more chances were missed before Jackson finally broke the deadlock in the 40th with a simple finish to Ismail Jakobs’ fast cross.

Botswana initially showed more attacking ambition after the break, but that yielded more counterattacking opportunities for the Teranga Lions, who quickly resumed their earlier dominance.

Jackson stopped Ismaïla Sarr’s cross, eluded a defender, then swept the ball in for his second goal in the 58th.

Phoko remained the busiest Botswana player as Jackson’s frustrations grew. Jackson went off for Ndiaye in the 78th and the substitute wrapped up the scoring in the last minute.