An emphatically-dispatched penalty in the 54th minute from skipper William Troost-Ekong was enough for Nigeria to defeat hosts Ivory Coast in both sides’ second game of the Africa Cup of Nations Group A clash in Abidjan.
The penalty had to be confirmed by VAR after striker Victor Osimhen was fouled in the box in a game in which neither side were any great shakes. This was not one of the Ivorien sides of years gone by with the Toure brothers – Yaya and Kolo, Salomon Kalou and Didier Drogba, who sat not looking amused in the expensive area of the lavishly-built arena.
While the hosts did most of the running, with Nigeria trying to capitalise on the counter with the pace of Samuel Chukwueze and Ademola Lookman, it was the Super Eagles who had the better chances early on. A rare flowing Nigerian move saw Chukwueze find Osimhen after seven minutes. But the African Player of Year fired his left foot shot over. He appeared too anxious and perhaps trying too hard to justify being acclaimed as the best in the continent. He would need to relax a bit in order to make a strong fist of finishing as tournament top scorer as many of his Nigerian fans expect.
Ivory Coast had their moments, particularly in the 8th minute when a misguided header back to goal from Zaidu Sanusi led to goalie Stanley Nwabali blocking the resulting shot with his chest. Nwabali oozed confidence and brought the sort of calm to the defence that was lacking whenever the original first choice Francis Uzoho was in goal. Coach Jose Peseiro has got many things wrong in his time in charge of Nigeria and has been slated for it by Super Eagles fans. But he deserves begrudging praise for opting for Nwabali in goal instead of the error-prone Uzoho.
This was a much-needed win for Nigeria, coming after the stinker of an opener against Equatorial Guinea on Sunday. But it was not the stuff of contenders for the title. Corners were wasted, the final ball left a lot to be desired, and the midfield continued to disappoint in terms of creating chances.
But at this stage, winning is all that matters, whether winning ugly or not. Nigeria now has four points from two games and are almost guaranteed a place in the knockout stages as their final group game on Monday is against Guinea-Bissau, who don’t have much to play for after losing their first two games 2-0 and 4-2, to Ivory Coast and Equatorial Guinea.
While the goals are not flowing for Nigeria, the defending today, less a couple of wild moments from Sanusi, was assured with Troost-Ekong looking imperious, supported by Calvin Bassey, Semi Ajayi and Ola Aina. Frank Onyeka also provided a good shield in front of the defence. They will draw some inspiration from beating one of the “giants” of African football. But bigger beasts lie in wait at the knockout stages.
