Super Eagles put the disappointment of their opening game behind them as the wrestled the Elephants of Cote d’ Ivoire down with a lone goal victory to move to the second position in the Group behind Equatorial Guinea.
Earlier, Equatorial Guinea defeated Guinea Bissau 4-2 to move to top of Group A with four points with different goal margin.
Super Eagles Skipper William Troost- Ekong scored the lone goal after Africa Footballer of the Year Victor Osimhen was brought down in the 55th minute
Head coach Jose Peseiro made two changes to the team that drew with Equatorial Guinea on the opening day, with Calvin Bassey and Samuel Chukwueze coming in for Alhassan Yusuf and Moses Simon.
Nigeria set up in a 3-4-3 formation as Bassey slipped beside William Troost-Ekong and Semi Ajayi in defence, while Zaidu Sanusi and Ola Aina took their places as wing-backs.
Chukwueze and Lookman flanked star forward Victor Osimhen in attack, with Stanley Nwabali continuing in goal.
Despite the change in system, Nigeria had the first sight of goal but Onyeka flashed wide from the edge of the box.
It was Osimhen’s turn to be wasteful in the 8th minute as he raced through on goal but slapped his effort high and wide.
Cote d’Ivoire retaliated instantly and goalkeeper Nwabali had to be smart to keep out Christian Kouame’s left-footed shot.
From then on, it was a hard-fought battle in the middle of the park until the referee signal for the end of the first half.
Despite the lead, the Super Eagles did not let up and continue to create good chances but poor headers from Osimhen and Onyeka stopped them from adding to their advantage.
Cote d’Ivoire stepped up the pace of the game shortly after but there was little for goalkeeper Nwabali to do.
The host has now dropped to the third position in the group and will require a win against Equatorial Guinea in their last group match.
