The Super Eagles Book Afcon Knockout Place In Spite of Fierce Carthage Eagles Comeback
Former Continent's Best Player of the Year Victor Osimhen helped his team build a 3-0 advantage, before the Super Eagles were forced to defend resolutely for a hard-fought victory.
Nigeria survived a dramatic comeback attempt from their opponents to advance to the knockout stage of the Afcon tournament taking place in the host nation.
The Super Eagles appeared to be in complete control in their pool encounter in Fes, holding a three-goal cushion with just a quarter of an hour remaining courtesy of goals from their attacking trio.
Yet, a Tunisian defender pulled one back with a powerful header from a Manchester United midfielder set-piece, igniting hopes of a turnaround.
The tension escalated when the North Africans were given a spot-kick after a video assistant referee check spotted a handball by the Nigerian defender. Ali Abdi converted in the 87th minute to set up a nail-biting conclusion.
The Carthage Eagles were inches away from a stunning leveler in added time, with their skipper heading a opportunity narrowly wide before Ismael Gharbi sent a half-volley wide of the upright.
Securing First Place
This result ensures that the Super Eagles, champions of the competition on 3 past instances, move to 6 points and are assured first place in Group C with a match 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 remain on 3 group points, with the East African teams tied on a single point each after registering a 1-1 stalemate in the day's other fixture.
The final pool fixtures will see the group leaders stay in the city to play Uganda on Tuesday, while the Eagles of Carthage return to the capital to confront Tanzania.
A Nervy Conclusion
The Tunisian defender smashed the ball from the penalty spot to offer Tunisia hope of earning a draw.
The Super Eagles, finalists in the previous edition, are the next nation after the Pharaohs to reach the knockout stage, but coach Eric Chelle and fans will undoubtedly be breathing a sigh of relief.
What looked like set to be a comfortable final quarter morphed into a nerve-wracking conclusion.
Victor Osimhen had a effort ruled out for an infringement before opening the scoring right before half-time, precisely placing a glancing effort into the far post from an Ademola Lookman delivery.
The lead was doubled early in the second half when the Leicester City midfielder climbed above everyone to thump in a powerful nod from a set-piece kick.
The number 9 then turned provider his teammate for the third goal, only for the defender to steer a powerful header past goalkeeper Stanley Nwabali to initiate the comeback.
The pivotal incident came when a looping cross struck the arm of the full-back, with the official awarding a penalty after reviewing the VAR monitor.
Despite the defender's confident conversion, the 2004 champions in the end came up just short of completing a remarkable recovery.
Tunisia's destiny remains in their own hands; a point against Tunisia will be enough to see them through, and their coach will be eager to avoid a recurrence of the 2013 early elimination that led to his previous resignation.
