By Daniel Mfoniso
The Nigerian’s Super Eagles defeated host the Elephants by a lone goal to record their first-ever victory over the Ivorian on home soil at the Alassane Ouattara Stadium, Abidjan.
Coming into the game, The Eagles were faced with an uphill task to defeat the Ivorians who had a convincing 2-0 win over Guinea-Bissau in the group opener. Also, the Ivorians had never lost a game to the Nigerian team on home soil after nine(9) previous attempt. While the Super Eagles, had a poor start with a one haul draw to the Equatorial Guinea and a point.
However, the pressure was on the Eagles when Equatorial Guinea defeated Guinea Bissau 4-0 in the earlier game of the Group. But a lone goal at the 55th minutes from William Troost-Ekong’s penalty after Victor Osimhen was brought down by Diomande, was the difference.
Jean-louis Gasset men started the game strong with 10 attempts to show the intensity of the game compare to Eagles 7 attempt, but the visiting team was defensively composed to silence the Ivorian deadly attack.
With the defeat, the elephants became the second host nation to be defeated in a group stage since Equatorial Guinea lost 1-0 to Zambia as joint-host in 2012. They will face the group leader Equatorial Guinea in a must win match on Monday, while Nigeria will face Guinea-Bissau simultaneously.
