AFCON 2023: Nigeria narrowly defeat hosts Côte d'Ivoire in group play
A penalty kick early in the second half gave Nigeria all it needed to defeat the AFCON host.
Football
Nigeria squeaked past Côte d'Ivoire 1-0 on Thursday (18 January) after a tense battle at the CAF Africa Cup of Nations 2023 in the Olympic Stadium of Ebimpé in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire.
The game was a duel between two continental powerhouses who both expected to contend for the title coming into the tournament. Now with the defeat, Côte d'Ivoire face a tricky situation to stay alive.
A scoreless first half saw plenty of missed chances for both sides, including from Nigeria's star striker Victor Osimhen in the 10th minute and Côte d'Ivoire's Christian Kouame a minute later.
But Nigeria put itself on the scoreboard early in the second half as William Troost-Ekong stepped up to convert a penalty in the 55th minute.
With less than 15 minutes to go, the host team missed two decent chances from Nicolas Pepe and Seko Fofana, putting the pressure on as time ticked down.
As stoppage time passed 11 minutes, Côte d'Ivore couldn't come up with an answer.
On Monday (22 January), Côte d'Ivoire face Equatorial Guinea, while Nigeria is set to lineup against Guinea-Bissau.