Nigeria Secure Afcon Knockout Spot Despite Late Tunisia Comeback
Former Continent's Best Player of the Year Victor Osimhen was instrumental in his team build a 3-0 advantage, but the Super Eagles were compelled to hold on for a narrow victory.
The three-time champions survived a dramatic late rally from Tunisia to advance to the last 16 of the Afcon tournament taking place in the host nation.
The Super Eagles seemed to be in complete control in their pool clash in Fes, enjoying a three-goal cushion with just a quarter of an hour remaining thanks to strikes from their attacking trio.
However, Montassar Talbi pulled one back with a powerful header from a Manchester United midfielder free-kick, sparking hopes of a turnaround.
The tension escalated when Tunisia were given a spot-kick after a video assistant referee review spotted a handling offense by Bright Osayi-Samuel. The left-back calmly slotted home in the 87th minute to set up a nail-biting finale.
The Carthage Eagles were inches away from a last-gasp leveler in added time, with their skipper heading a opportunity just past the post before a substitute guided a half-volley wide of the upright.
Securing First Place
The victory ensures that Nigeria, champions of the tournament on three past instances, move to 6 group points and are guaranteed first place in their pool with one game left to play.
For the round of 16, they will meet a best third-place team from one of the other preliminary groups.
Meanwhile, the 2004 champions stay on three points, with the East African teams tied on one point after registering a 1-1 stalemate in the day's other fixture.
The final group fixtures will see the group leaders remain in the city to take on Uganda on Tuesday, while Tunisia return to the capital to face the Taifa Stars.
An Anxious Conclusion
Ali Abdi drilled the ball from the penalty spot to give Tunisia a glimmer of hope of earning a point.
The Super Eagles, finalists in the previous edition, become the next nation after the Pharaohs to qualify for the knockout stage, but their manager and fans will certainly be breathing a sigh of relief.
What seemed set to be a comfortable last period morphed into a tense affair.
Victor Osimhen had a effort ruled out for offside before breaking the deadlock right before half-time, precisely placing a header into the bottom corner from an Ademola Lookman cross.
The lead was doubled early in the second period when the Leicester City midfielder climbed above everyone to thump in a header from a set-piece kick.
Osimhen then set up his teammate for the third goal, only for Montassar Talbi to direct a header past the Nigerian shot-stopper to initiate the comeback.
The key incident came when a looping cross hit the arm of the full-back, with the official pointing to the spot after consulting the VAR monitor.
Despite the defender's confident conversion, Tunisia ultimately fell short of completing a remarkable comeback.
Tunisia's destiny remains in their control; a draw against Tunisia will be enough to see them through, and their coach will be eager to prevent a recurrence of the 2013 group-stage exit that resulted in his departure.
