William Troost-Ekong scored from the penalty spot as Nigeria recorded a 1-0 win over 2023 Africa Cup of Nations hosts Ivory Coast in their Group A encounter on Thursday evening.
The Super Eagles started the tournament poorly with a 1-1 draw against Equatorial Guinea while the Elephants defeated Guinea-Bissau 2-0.
Nigeria needed to get a result against the Ivorians and started brightly with current African Player of the Year Victor Osimhen firing over the crossbar in the eighth minute.
The Ivorians tried to respond with a chance of their own instantly but Christian Kouame’s effort was saved by goalkeeper Stanley Nwabali. The Chippa United man also had to alert in the 31st minute to stop Seko Fofana’s shot from going in.
The Super Eagles’ moment of glory came in the 51st minute when Osimhen was brought down in the penalty box. The referee waved play on but then had to be paused for a VAR review to which the penalty was given. Troost-Ekong stepped up to take the spot kick and sent it past Yahia Fofana to the middle of the net.
Osimhen had a chance to add to the scoreline in 62nd minute while Seko Fofana had an opportunity to equalise in the 73rd minute but both opportunities were wasted.
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Troost-Ekong scores through a penalty kick to secure a precious victory for Nigeria against hosts Cote d'Ivoire! ????????????#TotalEnergiesAFCON2023 | #CIVNGR pic.twitter.com/2qXQ8fGgLn
— CAF (@CAF_Online) January 18, 2024
The Ivorians tried to pile more pressure in the closing stages of the game but the Nigerians held firm to keep their qualification hopes alive with their final Group B game to come against Guinea-Bissau who were defeated 4-2 by Equatorial Guinea in the earlier fixture.
