Nigeria brought a smile back to already disheartened fans after beating Tunisia 1-0 in the battle for the bronze in the 2019 African Cup of Nation.
Nigeria were the lucky ones after their first three-minute dominance paid them off when Odion Ighalo netted his fifth goal of the tournament. This was after Jamilu Collins’ effort, who dribbled the ball past Tunisia’s Oussama Haddadi and sent a shot to the goal before Ighalo scored the first for the Super Eagles.
Odion Ighalo pokes the ball into the net for Nigeria #TUNNGR pic.twitter.com/ItlCQNtKkv
— Goalz (@Goalz8) July 17, 2019
Tunisia had a good opportunity to level the score in the 7th minute when Taha Khenisi’s kick was blocked out by Nigeria defenders.
The Super Eagles went ahead with raiding the Carthage Eagles’ half but there wasn’t any Nigerian player to push in Ighalo’s nice pass in the 13th minute.
Wilfred Ndidi was yellow-carded in the 17th minute after his reckless attack on Ferjani Sassi, but the foul kick which was taken by Wahbi Khazri was deflected outside for a corner.
Khenisi was forced to come out of the pitch in the 43rd-minute after suffering an injury during his tackle with William Troost-Ekong. He was replaced by Firas Chaouat.
A disappointed Ighalo then followed Khenisi in the last minute of the first-half after succumbing to a muscle pool injury.
The first half ended with both teams sharing equal possession; 50% each. They both had 4 shots with Nigeria leading with one on target, a shot that separated them with their opponents.
Half time statistics. Tunisia 🇹🇳 vs Nigeria 🇳🇬 #AFCONikoKBC ^KM pic.twitter.com/VuBoYT9PIN
— KBC Channel1 News (@KBCChannel1) July 17, 2019
Chaouat wasted Tunisia’s equalizing effort in the 47th minute when he shot the ball out after receiving a nice pass from the right-winger Khazri.
The Carthage Eagles got their first shot on target in the 56th-minute through Anice Badri who sent a superb kick out of the 20-yard position but his shot was comfortably saved by Nigeria goalkeeper Francis Uzoho.
Ghaylen Chaaleli prompted the referee to give out a second yellow card when he thoughtlessly attacked Oghenekaro Etebo in the 60th-minute.
Khazri was called back to action in the 70th-minute when he nicely controlled and challenged Musa in Uzoho’s area after receiving a lofty cross from Mohammed Drager, but he was flagged for offside.
Chaaleli wasted another chance in the 77th-minute when he loosely shot out a ball that with a little twist and confidence could have leveled the score.
Tunisia survived a further heartbreak in the 80th minute when Samuel Chukwueze failed to calculate well his shot after a threatening counterattack by the Super Eagles.
Samuel Kalu’s purpose in the 90th-minute yielded some significance as he got in and shot a free-kick that was superbly saved by Algeria goalkeeper.
Kalu then sent another scary spot-kick two minutes later when Rami Bedoui was yellow-carded for a handball few metres away from the penalty area.
The Super Eagles managed to hold the Carthage Eagles with a 1-0 win until the final whistle.
