The Super Eagles Book Afcon Knockout Spot In Spite of Fierce Tunisia Fightback
Former Continent's Best Player of the Year Victor Osimhen was instrumental in his team build a 3-0 lead, but they were compelled to hold on for a hard-fought victory.
Nigeria weathered a stunning comeback attempt from their opponents to progress to the knockout stage of the Afcon tournament taking place in Morocco.
The Super Eagles seemed to be in complete control in their pool clash in the Moroccan city, holding a 3-0 lead with only a quarter of an hour left courtesy of goals from Victor Osimhen, Wilfred Ndidi and Ademola Lookman.
However, a Tunisian defender pulled one back with a close-range finish from a Hannibal Mejbri set-piece, igniting hopes of a turnaround.
The tension intensified when Tunisia were given a late penalty after a VAR review spotted a handball by Bright Osayi-Samuel. Ali Abdi calmly slotted home in the 87th minute to create a nail-biting conclusion.
The Carthage Eagles came agonizingly close from a last-gasp equalizer in stoppage time, with their skipper heading a opportunity narrowly wide before Ismael Gharbi sent a bobbling volley wide of the upright.
Clinching Top Spot
This result means that Nigeria, champions of the tournament on 3 past instances, advance to 6 group points and are assured first place in Group C with a match still to play.
For the round of 16, they will face a third-placed side from one of the other preliminary groups.
Meanwhile, Tunisia stay on three group points, with the East African teams tied on a single point after registering a 1-1 stalemate earlier on Saturday.
The concluding pool fixtures will see Nigeria stay in the city to take on Uganda on Tuesday, while the Eagles of Carthage travel back to Rabat to confront Tanzania.
An Anxious Conclusion
The Tunisian defender drilled home from the penalty spot to give his team hope of earning a point.
Nigeria, finalists in the previous tournament, are the next team after Egypt to qualify for the knockout stage, but coach Eric Chelle and fans will certainly be breathing a sigh of relief.
What seemed set to be a straightforward last period transformed into a tense affair.
The prolific striker had a goal ruled out for an infringement before opening the scoring on the stroke of the interval, expertly guiding a header into the far post from an Ademola Lookman cross.
The lead was doubled early in the second half when the Leicester City midfielder climbed above everyone to power home a powerful nod from a Lookman corner.
Osimhen then turned provider Lookman for the third goal, before the defender to steer a powerful header past the Nigerian shot-stopper to initiate the fightback.
The pivotal moment came when a high ball struck the arm of the full-back, with referee Boubou Traore awarding a penalty after reviewing the pitchside screen.
Although the defender's confident conversion, the 2004 champions in the end fell short of pulling off a stirring comeback.
Tunisia's destiny is still in their control; a point against Tanzania will be enough to see them through, and manager Sami Trabelsi will be keen to avoid a recurrence of the past early elimination that led to his previous resignation.
