Nigeria Secure Afcon Last 16 Spot In Spite of Late Carthage Eagles Fightback
Former African Footballer of the Year Victor Osimhen helped Nigeria establish a 3-0 advantage, but they were forced to defend resolutely for a hard-fought victory.
The three-time champions survived a stunning late rally from their opponents to progress to the last 16 of the Afcon tournament taking place in Morocco.
Jose Peseiro's side seemed to be cruising in their Group C encounter in the Moroccan city, enjoying a three-goal lead with only 17 minutes left courtesy of strikes from Victor Osimhen, Wilfred Ndidi and Ademola Lookman.
Yet, Montassar Talbi reduced the deficit with a powerful header from a Manchester United midfielder set-piece, igniting hopes of a recovery.
The drama escalated when Tunisia were awarded a spot-kick after a video assistant referee check spotted a handling offense by the Nigerian defender. Ali Abdi converted in the 87th minute to create a nail-biting conclusion.
Tunisia came agonizingly close from a last-gasp leveler in stoppage time, with their skipper directing a opportunity just past the post before Ismael Gharbi guided a bobbling volley past the goal frame.
Clinching First Place
This result means that the Super Eagles, champions of the tournament on three past instances, advance to six points and are assured first place in Group C with one game still to play.
For the round of 16, they will face a best third-place team from one of Group A, B or F.
In the other match, the 2004 champions remain on three points, with Uganda and Tanzania tied on one point after playing out a 1-1 stalemate in the day's other fixture.
The concluding pool matches will see the group leaders stay in Fes to take on the Cranes on Tuesday, while the Eagles of Carthage return to the capital to confront Tanzania.
An Anxious Conclusion
Ali Abdi drilled the ball from the penalty spot to give his team a glimmer of hope of earning a draw.
Nigeria, runners-up in the 2023 edition, become the second team after the Pharaohs to reach the next phase, but coach Eric Chelle and supporters will certainly be breathing a sigh of relief.
What seemed set to be a straightforward final quarter transformed into a nerve-wracking conclusion.
Victor Osimhen had a goal ruled out for offside before opening the scoring right before the interval, expertly guiding a header into the bottom corner from an Ademola Lookman delivery.
The lead was doubled early in the second period when the Leicester City midfielder rose highest to power home a header from a Lookman corner.
The number 9 then turned provider Lookman for the seemingly decisive goal, before the defender to steer a powerful header past goalkeeper Stanley Nwabali to begin the fightback.
The key incident came when a high ball struck the arm of Bright Osayi-Samuel, with referee Boubou Traore awarding a penalty after consulting the pitchside screen.
Although Ali Abdi's confident conversion, the 2004 champions in the end came up just short of pulling off a stirring recovery.
Tunisia's destiny is still in their own hands; a draw against Tunisia will be sufficient to see them through, and their coach will be eager to prevent a recurrence of the past group-stage exit that led to his previous resignation.
