The Super Eagles Secure Afcon Last 16 Spot Despite Fierce Tunisia Fightback
Former African Footballer of the Year Victor Osimhen was instrumental in his team establish a commanding lead, but the Super Eagles were compelled to defend resolutely for a narrow win.
Nigeria survived a dramatic late rally from Tunisia to advance to the knockout stage of the Afcon tournament taking place in Morocco.
The Super Eagles appeared to be in complete control in their Group C encounter in the Moroccan city, enjoying a 3-0 lead with only a quarter of an hour left courtesy of strikes from their attacking trio.
However, a Tunisian defender pulled one back with a close-range finish from a Hannibal Mejbri free-kick, sparking hopes of a recovery.
The tension escalated when the North Africans were awarded a late penalty after a VAR check identified a handling offense by Bright Osayi-Samuel. The left-back converted in the dying stages to set up a nail-biting finale.
The Carthage Eagles came agonizingly close from a last-gasp equalizer in added time, with their skipper directing a chance just past the post before a substitute sent a bobbling volley wide of the goal frame.
Clinching First Place
The victory ensures that Nigeria, champions of the competition on 3 past instances, move to 6 group points and are guaranteed first place in their pool with a match still to be contested.
In the next round, they will face a best third-place team from one of the other preliminary groups.
Meanwhile, Tunisia remain on 3 group points, with the East African teams tied on one point after registering a one-all draw earlier on Saturday.
The concluding pool fixtures will see Nigeria stay in the city to play Uganda on the next matchday, while Tunisia travel back to Rabat to face the Taifa Stars.
An Anxious Finish
The Tunisian defender drilled home from 12 yards to give his team a glimmer of hope of snatching a draw.
The Super Eagles, finalists in the 2023 edition, become the second team after the Pharaohs to qualify for the knockout stage, but their manager and fans will certainly be feeling relieved.
What seemed set to be a comfortable final quarter morphed into a tense conclusion.
The prolific striker had a goal disallowed for an infringement before opening the scoring on the stroke of half-time, expertly guiding a glancing effort into the far post from an Atalanta winger cross.
The advantage was extended soon in the second period when the Leicester City midfielder rose highest to power home a header from a Lookman kick.
Osimhen then set up Lookman for the third goal, before the defender to direct a header past goalkeeper Stanley Nwabali to initiate the fightback.
The key incident arrived when a looping cross struck the arm of the full-back, with the official awarding a penalty after reviewing the VAR monitor.
Although the defender's confident conversion, Tunisia ultimately came up just short of completing a stirring comeback.
Their fate is still in their own hands; a point against Tunisia will be sufficient to see them through, and their coach will be keen to avoid a repeat of the past early elimination that led to his previous resignation.
