By Our Sports Editor
Nigeria’s Super Eagles on Sunday failed to beat Equatorial Guinea during both teams’ 2023 Africa Cup of Nations tie in Cote d’Ivoire.
The match ended 1-1 at the Olympic Stadium.
Ivan Salvador gave Equatorial Guinea a 1-0 lead in the 36th minute.
However, Victor Osimhen restored parity just two minutes later with a fine header.
Osimhen nodded in straight after Iban Salvador’s opener for the underdogs.
Salvador’s classy first-half finish was his side’s only attempt on target and briefly threatened a significant upset in the second game of the tournament.
Jesus Owono made several second-half saves to deny the Super Eagles, and Osimhen missed after breaking clear.
The stalemate in the Group A match in Abidjan means both sides are two points behind Ivory Coast, who opened the tournament with a 2-0 win over Guinea-Bissau on Saturday.
Equatorial Guinea, who are 46 places below Nigeria in the world rankings, celebrated ecstatically after taking the lead, but conceded straight from the restart when Osimhen converted Ademola Lookman’s cross and spent much of the match under pressure.
Goalkeeper Owono was in inspired form but breathed a sigh of relief when African Footballer of the Year Osimhen misfired after being sent through by Fulham midfielder Alex Iwobi with 14 minutes remaining.
