Nigeria Secure Afcon Knockout Place In Spite of Fierce Carthage Eagles Comeback
Former African Footballer of the Year the Napoli star helped Nigeria establish a 3-0 lead, before they were forced to defend resolutely for a narrow win.
Nigeria weathered a stunning comeback attempt from Tunisia to progress to the knockout stage of the Afcon tournament taking place in Morocco.
Jose Peseiro's side seemed to be in complete control in their Group C clash in Fes, holding a three-goal lead with only 17 minutes remaining courtesy of strikes from their attacking trio.
However, Montassar Talbi reduced the deficit with a close-range finish from a Hannibal Mejbri set-piece, sparking hopes of a turnaround.
The drama escalated when Tunisia were given a late penalty after a video assistant referee check spotted a handling offense by Bright Osayi-Samuel. The left-back calmly slotted home in the dying stages to set up a frantic conclusion.
The Carthage Eagles were inches away from a last-gasp leveler in added time, with captain Ferjani Sassi heading a chance narrowly wide before a substitute guided a bobbling volley wide of the goal frame.
Securing Top Spot
This result means that Nigeria, champions of the tournament on three previous occasions, move to 6 group points and are assured top spot in their pool with one game left to play.
In the next round, they will face a third-placed side from either the other preliminary groups.
Meanwhile, the 2004 champions stay on 3 points, with the East African teams locked on one point after playing out a one-all stalemate in the day's other fixture.
The concluding group fixtures will see Nigeria remain in Fes to play the Cranes on Tuesday, while Tunisia travel back to the capital to face the Taifa Stars.
An Anxious Finish
Ali Abdi smashed the ball from 12 yards to offer his team a glimmer of hope of earning a point.
The Super Eagles, runners-up in the previous tournament, become the second nation after Egypt to reach the next phase, but their manager and fans will undoubtedly be feeling relieved.
What looked like set to be a comfortable last period morphed into a tense affair.
The prolific striker had a effort disallowed for offside before opening the scoring right before the interval, precisely placing a glancing effort into the bottom corner from an Ademola Lookman cross.
The lead was doubled soon in the second period when Wilfred Ndidi climbed above everyone to power home a header from a set-piece corner.
The number 9 then set up Lookman for the seemingly decisive goal, before Montassar Talbi to direct a header past goalkeeper Stanley Nwabali to begin the comeback.
The pivotal moment came when a high ball struck the forearm of Bright Osayi-Samuel, with the official pointing to the spot after reviewing the pitchside screen.
Despite the defender's confident conversion, Tunisia in the end fell short of completing a remarkable recovery.
Their fate remains in their own hands; a draw against Tanzania will be sufficient to see them through, and manager Sami Trabelsi will be keen to prevent a recurrence of the past early elimination that resulted in his previous resignation.
