Nigeria Book Africa Cup of Nations Last 16 Spot Despite Late Tunisia Comeback
Ex- Continent's Best Player of the Year Victor Osimhen helped Nigeria establish a commanding lead, before they were forced to hold on for a narrow win.
The three-time champions weathered a stunning comeback attempt from their opponents to progress to the last 16 of the Afcon tournament taking place in Morocco.
The Super Eagles seemed to be in complete control in their Group C clash in Fes, holding a 3-0 cushion with just a quarter of an hour left thanks to goals from Victor Osimhen, Wilfred Ndidi and Ademola Lookman.
Yet, a Tunisian defender reduced the deficit with a powerful header from a Hannibal Mejbri free-kick, igniting hopes of a recovery.
The drama escalated when Tunisia were given a late penalty after a VAR review spotted a handling offense by Bright Osayi-Samuel. The left-back calmly slotted home in the dying stages to create a frantic finale.
The Carthage Eagles were inches away from a stunning leveler in stoppage time, with their skipper heading a chance narrowly wide before Ismael Gharbi guided a bobbling volley wide of the upright.
Clinching Top Spot
This result ensures that the Super Eagles, champions of the competition on 3 previous occasions, move to six group points and are assured first place in Group C with one game still to play.
In the next round, they will face a third-placed team from one of the other preliminary groups.
In the other match, Tunisia remain on 3 group points, with the East African teams locked on a single point after playing out a one-all draw in the day's other fixture.
The final pool matches will see the group leaders remain in Fes to play Uganda on the next matchday, while the Eagles of Carthage return to Rabat to confront Tanzania.
An Anxious Finish
The Tunisian defender drilled the ball from 12 yards to offer his team a glimmer of hope of snatching a point.
Nigeria, runners-up in the previous edition, become the next nation after the Pharaohs to qualify for the knockout stage, but their manager and supporters will certainly be feeling relieved.
What looked like set to be a comfortable final quarter transformed into a tense affair.
Victor Osimhen had a effort disallowed for an infringement before opening the scoring on the stroke of the interval, expertly guiding a glancing effort into the bottom corner from an Ademola Lookman cross.
The lead was doubled early in the second half when Wilfred Ndidi climbed above everyone to thump in a header from a set-piece corner.
The number 9 then set up his teammate for the seemingly decisive goal, only for the defender to direct a header past goalkeeper Stanley Nwabali to initiate the comeback.
The key moment came when a high ball struck the arm of the full-back, with referee Boubou Traore pointing to the spot after reviewing the VAR monitor.
Despite Ali Abdi's successful penalty, the 2004 champions ultimately came up just short of completing a remarkable comeback.
Their fate is still in their own hands; a point against Tunisia will be sufficient to secure progression, and their coach will be eager to prevent a recurrence of the 2013 early elimination that resulted in his departure.
