Edouard Mendy said football was the winner after Senegal overcame Morocco in a remarkable Africa Cup of Nations final, having earlier left the pitch in protest and refused to play.

Pape Gueye's stunning strike three minutes into extra-time saw the Lions of Teranga defeat the hosts 1-0 in Rabat and lift the trophy for the second time. But that does not begin to tell the story of a chaotic showpiece match.

After 90 relatively quiet minutes, Senegal's Ismaila Sarr had a goal disallowed for a foul in the build-up, then El Hadji Malick Diouf was penalised for dragging Brahim Diaz down from a Morocco corner five minutes into stoppage time.

Senegal's players and staff were outraged by that decision, with head coach Pape Thiaw leading them back to the dressing room in protest while star forward Sadio Mane urged them to play on.

The spot-kick was not taken until the 24th minute of stoppage time, and when it was, Diaz's awful Panenka was easily caught by Mendy.

And after Pape Gueye settled matters with his left-footed piledriver – the first goal scored by Senegal in their four AFCON final appearances – Mendy said justice had been done.

"We're not going to talk about things in the heat of the moment, things happened, but in the end, what you have to remember is that football won," he told BeIN Sports.

"Morocco have been waiting for this trophy for more than 50 years, they had everything in their favour, but we responded in our own way and tonight, Senegal can celebrate."

Diaz was in tears after seeing his penalty, which was the final kick of regulation time, caught by Mendy, and the goalkeeper refuted suggestions the Real Madrid forward might have been in two minds as to whether he should score,

"He tried the Panenka, I stayed on my feet. We kept the team in the game, and I helped my team at that time," he added.

"Yes, he wanted to score, I stopped him, we have to stop there, with the controversy."

Asked what was said between Senegal's players when they retreated to the dressing room, Mendy added: "It stays between us, we did it together, and we came back together. That's all we have to remember. We can be proud tonight.

"We were keen to win this final, to bring the trophy home. Millions of Senegalese people are happy, we will enjoy it."

Midfielder Idrissa Gueye, who was named Man of the Match, echoed Mendy's sentiments as he said: "It was a very complicated match, we were keen to win here. 

"It's a beautiful country, with remarkable supporters. We gave everything, we didn't cheat. Senegal are African champions, and we are very happy."