Nigeria Secure Africa Cup of Nations Last 16 Place Despite Late Tunisia Fightback
Former African Footballer of the Year Victor Osimhen helped his team build a 3-0 lead, but they were forced to defend resolutely for a narrow victory.
The three-time champions survived a stunning comeback attempt from Tunisia to advance to the knockout stage of the Afcon tournament taking place in Morocco.
The Super Eagles seemed to be in complete control in their pool encounter in the Moroccan city, enjoying a three-goal lead with just a quarter of an hour remaining courtesy of goals from their attacking trio.
Yet, Montassar Talbi pulled one back with a close-range finish from a Hannibal Mejbri set-piece, sparking hopes of a turnaround.
The tension escalated when Tunisia were given a late penalty after a VAR review identified a handball by Bright Osayi-Samuel. Ali Abdi calmly slotted home in the dying stages to create a frantic conclusion.
Tunisia came agonizingly close from a last-gasp leveler in stoppage time, with captain Ferjani Sassi directing a opportunity just past the post before a substitute sent a bobbling volley past the upright.
Securing Top Spot
The victory ensures that Nigeria, champions of the competition on 3 past instances, advance to six points and are assured first place in their pool with one game still to be contested.
In the next round, they will face a third-placed team from one of the other preliminary groups.
In the other match, Tunisia stay on three group points, with Uganda and Tanzania tied on a single point after registering a one-all draw in the day's other fixture.
The concluding pool fixtures will see Nigeria stay in Fes to take on the Cranes on Tuesday, while Tunisia return to the capital to confront the Taifa Stars.
A Nervy Conclusion
The Tunisian defender smashed the ball from 12 yards to give his team hope of snatching a point.
The Super Eagles, finalists in the 2023 edition, are the second team after Egypt to reach the knockout stage, but their manager and supporters will undoubtedly be feeling relieved.
What looked like set to be a comfortable last period morphed into a tense conclusion.
The prolific striker had a effort ruled out for offside before opening the scoring right before half-time, precisely placing a header into the bottom corner from an Ademola Lookman delivery.
The advantage was extended early in the second half when the Leicester City midfielder rose highest to power home a powerful nod from a Lookman kick.
Osimhen then set up Lookman for the third goal, only for Montassar Talbi to direct a header past the Nigerian shot-stopper to begin the comeback.
The key incident arrived when a looping cross hit the forearm of the full-back, with the official awarding a penalty after consulting the VAR monitor.
Although Ali Abdi's confident conversion, Tunisia in the end came up just short of completing a stirring comeback.
Tunisia's destiny is still in their control; a draw against Tunisia will be sufficient to see them through, and manager Sami Trabelsi will be keen to prevent a recurrence of the past group-stage exit that led to his previous resignation.
