In the final group game of the 2023 AFCON, the Nigeria Super Eagles narrowly avoided a disappointing outcome against Guinea Bissau, emerging with a 1-0 victory.
The win came courtesy of an own goal by Opa Sangante during a rather lackluster overall performance by the Super Eagles. Despite Guinea Bissau resting players for the match, the two teams appeared evenly matched for most of the first half.
The Super Eagles’ breakthrough came just before halftime when Moses Simon’s cross was inadvertently deflected into Guinea-Bissau’s net by Sangante.
The own goal secured Nigeria’s win, leaving them with seven points and securing a second-place finish in Group A, guaranteeing automatic qualification to the next stage.
While Nigeria had the ball in the net a second time through Victor Osimhen, the goal was disallowed for a handball. Osimhen later missed a clear chance in the second half, heading wide from an accurate Ola Aina cross.
Guinea Bissau thought they had equalized when Franculino Dju scored, but the goal was ruled out for offside. Similarly, Nigeria had another goal disallowed as Ola Aina found the net after Osimhen’s shot was saved, but the Napoli forward was deemed offside.
In the end, Nigeria held on to their 1-0 win, securing a place in the second round and setting up a match against the second-placed team in Group C.
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