Guinea was a tough challenge for Nigeria but the Super Eagles came out on top and secured their spot in the knockout stages.
Match Reports
Nigeria became the first team to qualify for the last 16 of the Africa Cup of Nations as they beat Guinea 1-0.
Three-time winners Nigeria scored the only goal in the 73rd minute when Moses Simon's right-wing corner was headed in at the near post by Kenneth Omeruo.
They now have six points from their two games after a 1-0 win over Burundi in their first match on Saturday.
The top two nations in each of the six groups advance, along with the four best third-placed countries.
Standings
Match Events
6' CHANCE! Ighalo's shot saved
37' NICE TRY! Iwobi’s long shot saved
Attempt saved. Alex Iwobi (Nigeria) right footed shot from outside the box is saved in the bottom left corner. Assisted by Wilfred Ndidi.
59' CHANCE! Musa's attempt blocked
71' Keita subbed off after getting injured
Keita received some strong challenges and only lasted 71 minutes before he was substituted.
73' GOAL! Nigeria 1-0 Guinea (Omeruo)
Goal! Nigeria 1, Guinea 0. Kenneth Omeruo (Nigeria) header from the right side of the six yard box to the top left corner. Assisted by Moses Simon with a cross following a corner.
mastef
251
it's coming back home
BabaNla_14
181
Nigeria Coach has watch how Jose Mouhrino is playing his Match, 1 0 1 0 😂
Bobhelsing
143
Just like we were the first African Country to Qualify for the last world cup.....Well to the game, not a convincing win we still need more from the Super Eagles
posod
102
Why can't the coach try other players instead of making substitution at late period of the game... They're many good players on the bench
Perecozy
54
In as mush as Nigeria won our performance is nothing to write about let’s us not see this as a big deal because when we face a better opponent it will be a different ball game, besides what justification dose the coach have in dropping Mikel on the bench allowing Guinea to take control of the midfield , iwobi did nothing as regards the midfield the exposure of our midfield is just too mush also Musa has no business in the starting lineup why keeping chukwueze on the bench? Ighalo is another selfish player as well rather than passing the ball to Musa to score he decided to turn a blind eye, this coach should be very careful he should not allow people to influence is selection of players Musa can come in as a supper sub I think we played better against Burundi than Guinea is just too early for the coach to start putting Mikel on the bench for what so ever reason known to him Moses Simon ,Ndidi ,oghenekaro, omeoru was on 🔥 kudos guys.
huoopstu
47
Thank God we won and make history as d 1st country to qualify for the next round of the tournament. We have to improve on our striking force to score more goals as we fans needs 🇳🇬🇳🇬🇳🇬💪🏆
angelmichael
42
First, congratulations Nigeria, the first team to qualify for the next round of the 2019 Total African Nations cup but without the flashy stats of the first match. For a team that had a total of 11shots and 6 on target may seem good on paper but definitely not as it looks. I was not too impressed though because at best with this same performance at a world level( world cup) they would have come third or the last in any group if seeding does not favour them and I don't think it would in a long while with their position in the Fifa ranking. contrary to my last view on Rohr, I think he now has a lot to do if he wants to make this side a very formidable one. Wing play is good from this team but not as effective as the first game though the hot weather was a bane to good "tiki taka". Regardless of the weather, I feel that young lad chukwueze could have done better than Simon if he had started the match, simon lacks the fluidity necessary to get over his opponents, he is heavy and struggled a lot but did his best. Awaziem did not help matters, he was heavy as well and played less with Simon unlike what happened between Shehu and chukwueze. They both need to loosen up and perhaps shed a few pounds. Ighalo did quite well but I rate him poor for today. His instincts are good, he has zeal to run into space and wants to test his prowess at goal but his speed and inner strength is a bane to his success, perhaps age is not on his side and again the weather was a factor for his low per performance. Strikers have gone beyond just running into space and trying to use their strength alone, the now go to receive the ball, take on defenders and cause lots of trouble for their opponents. Iwobi, a formidable force but whom has failed to leverage on his youthfulness and his prowess. I have kept tabs on this guy for a while and the following fails him: his final pass is usually poor, he goes blank in the final third especially after blistering races usually from the midfield, has weak shot if at all he shots. Fear of not failing in the final third has gotten over him so he always finds the nearest man that is most times not available to pass to in the opponennts 18 box, at that time he is expected to always aim at goal and strike the ball like a man. perhaps he needs to work on the muscles in his laps, his uncle Jay Jay can teach him that though Jay Jay also utilised more of this skill in the latter parts of his career and it caused him lots of injury. The best thing that has happened to the super eagles in a while is the combination of Etebo and Ndidi, two rugged fellows, they compliment each other, a very skillful player in front of those two would most likely win the Mvp in any tournament because they just seem to always do the dirty job for you. Musa, yes, good display but needs to understand that he was told to play as a winger and that could have given Aina the kind of display he had in the last match. Aina had to defend a lot under the harsh weather and he was almost silent today, I would have loved to see the overlapping runs of the last match. All in all, the performance was okay at least for the qualification but not good for an Eagle and a self proclaimed super one at that, I expected more from them. Just as I observed in the last match, the goal keeper Akpeyi cannot hold his own when the chips are down. He fumbled and was shaking like someone bitten by a Makiki spider and that was evident in the 23rd minute shot from Ibrahim, I expected him to have done better. He needs to know when to palm and when to punch the ball, a professional needs not be told that again. Guinea did very well, Keita was a handful but was tamed by Ndidi and Etebo who ruff handled him many times. Good strike on goal by Iwobi in the 60th minute, more of such would take him to the next level. Good goal from Omeruo, his first in 46 stats at the national level. Good possession for Guinea,51% versus 49%, they simply lacked a good game plan and the cohesion was not there at all. summarily, the game was okay and the officiating was fine. Nigeria just won their first match against Guinea after 5 meetings. Congrats Naija!
Busbcdilnp
38
They played well, it could have been more than 1-0. Guinea was lucky Ighalo was disappointing today I guess it was not his day Our defense was awesome Our keeper is nothing to write home about They played well, some of our moves that could have led to more goals were well read and cut out by the guineans.