Nigeria Book Afcon Knockout Place Despite Late Tunisia Comeback
Former African Footballer of the Year the Napoli star was instrumental in his team build a 3-0 lead, but the Super Eagles were forced to defend resolutely for a narrow victory.
Nigeria weathered a dramatic late rally from their opponents to progress to the last 16 of the Afcon tournament taking place in the host nation.
Jose Peseiro's side appeared to be in complete control in their Group C encounter in Fes, enjoying a 3-0 cushion with just a quarter of an hour remaining courtesy of strikes from Victor Osimhen, Wilfred Ndidi and Ademola Lookman.
However, a Tunisian defender reduced the deficit with a powerful header from a Hannibal Mejbri set-piece, igniting hopes of a recovery.
The tension escalated when the North Africans were awarded a late penalty after a video assistant referee review identified a handball by Bright Osayi-Samuel. Ali Abdi calmly slotted home in the dying stages to set up a nail-biting finale.
The Carthage Eagles were inches away from a last-gasp leveler in stoppage time, with captain Ferjani Sassi directing a chance just past the post before Ismael Gharbi guided a bobbling volley wide of the goal frame.
Securing Top Spot
This result means that Nigeria, winners of the tournament on three past instances, move to six points and are assured first place in their pool with one game still to play.
For the round of 16, they will face a third-placed team from either the other preliminary groups.
In the other match, Tunisia remain on 3 group points, with Uganda and Tanzania locked on a single point after registering a one-all draw in the day's other fixture.
The final group fixtures will see the group leaders remain in Fes to play Uganda on Tuesday, while the Eagles of Carthage travel back to Rabat to confront the Taifa Stars.
A Nervy Conclusion
The Tunisian defender drilled the ball from the penalty spot to give his team a glimmer of hope of earning a draw.
Nigeria, finalists in the previous tournament, are the second team after Egypt to reach the knockout stage, but coach Eric Chelle and supporters will certainly be breathing a sigh of relief.
What looked like set to be a comfortable last period morphed into a nerve-wracking affair.
Victor Osimhen had a effort disallowed for offside before opening the scoring right before the interval, precisely placing a glancing effort into the far post from an Atalanta winger cross.
The lead was doubled early in the second half when the Leicester City midfielder climbed above everyone to thump in a header from a set-piece kick.
Osimhen then set up Lookman for the third goal, only for the defender to direct a powerful header past goalkeeper Stanley Nwabali to begin the comeback.
The pivotal incident came when a high ball hit the arm of the full-back, with referee Boubou Traore awarding a penalty after consulting the VAR monitor.
Although Ali Abdi's successful penalty, Tunisia in the end fell short of completing a stirring recovery.
Tunisia's destiny is still in their own hands; a draw against Tunisia will be sufficient to secure progression, and their coach will be keen to prevent a recurrence of the 2013 early elimination that resulted in his departure.
