Nigeria vs South Africa ended in a 2-1 win in favour of the Super Eagles as Gernot Rohr’s men made it through to the semi finals.
The match started on a slow pace as both sides carefully built their confidence in the opening exchanges of the game. But the Super Eagles quickly got into their strides as they started creating scoring chances as the game progressed.
And the pressure finally paid off as Ahmed Musa combined with Alex Iwobi who took on a defender before setting up on rushing Samuel Chukwueze in the box.
The Villarreal star played a first time shot which was initially blocked but stirred the ball into the net on his second attempt to make it 1-0.
The 19-year-old dribbled his way into South Africa’s penalty area in the 36th minute but a timely intervention from Dean Furman saved Bafana Bafana’s blushes.
Nigeria went into the break the happier side and the more confident side as the South African had their tails between their legs.
Oghenekaro Etebo’s 50th minute free kick rattled the cross-bar from 25-yards as the Super Eagles showed their intent in the second half.
Gernot Rohr’s men pushed forward as Chukwueze again wriggled his way into the box but his cross went agonizingly wide in front of goal. But Bafana Bafana leveled the scores after Bongani Zungu header was given by the VAR but it was initially ruled offside by the assistant referee.
It was 1-1 after 71 minutes.
The rainbow nation began to grow in confidence as they piled up more pressure on the Nigerian defence. The match seemed to be heading for extra time as William Troost-Ekong capitalized on a goal keeping error to slam into an empty net from a corner kick to make it 2-1 to Nigeria.
The three-time African Champions held on for the win as they were still on course for a fourth AFCON title.