Ademola Lookman and Victor Osimhen were the driving forces as Nigeria edged past Tunisia 3–2 in a dramatic Group C encounter on Saturday, sealing the Super Eagles’ place in the Round of 16 at the Africa Cup of Nations.
Played at the Complexe Sportif de Fès in Morocco, the high-energy clash delivered five goals and plenty of late drama, with Nigeria recording their first-ever competitive victory over Tunisia in three meetings.
Lookman was at the heart of everything for the Super Eagles, producing a man-of-the-match performance. The Atalanta winger provided two assists and capped his night with a well-taken goal, directly contributing to all three Nigerian strikes.
Nigeria dominated the early exchanges but were wasteful in front of goal.
Osimhen, unusually off-target, missed two clear headers inside the opening 11 minutes. He later had a goal disallowed for offside after pouncing on a rebound from Akor Adams’ effort and headed another chance wide from Calvin Bassey’s cross.
The breakthrough finally arrived just before halftime. In the 44th minute, Osimhen shrugged off Montassar Talbi and powered home a header from Lookman’s pinpoint cross, ending his AFCON goal drought and celebrating with visible emotion. The goal marked Osimhen’s 32nd strike in 48 appearances for Nigeria, moving him closer to Rashidi Yekini’s all-time national record of 37 goals.
Eric Chelle’s men doubled their lead five minutes after the restart. Captain Wilfred Ndidi rose highest to meet Lookman’s corner, nodding in his first-ever goal for the national team to make it 2–0.
Lookman then crowned his outstanding display in the 70th minute, skipping past defender Yan Valery before calmly finishing, despite desperate Tunisian bodies scrambling on the goal line. Osimhen turned provider this time, setting up the winger’s decisive strike.
Tunisia refused to go down quietly. Talbi pulled one back in the 74th minute, glancing Hannibal Mejbri’s free-kick past goalkeeper Stanley Nwabali. The Eagles of Carthage were handed further hope late on when Bright Osayi-Samuel conceded a penalty for handball in the 87th minute. Ali Abdi stepped up and converted confidently to make it 3–2.
The Tunisians came agonisingly close to an equaliser in stoppage time, but Ferjani Sassi’s header drifted just wide, sparking wild celebrations among the Nigerian players as they held on for a vital victory.
The five-goal thriller is the highest-scoring match of the ongoing AFCON tournament in Morocco so far.
With six points from two games, Nigeria sit comfortably at the top of Group C and will face Uganda in their final group match on Tuesday at 5pm Nigerian time. Tunisia, despite the defeat, remain second in the group ahead of their crucial clash with Tanzania.
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