Former Nigerian defender Kenneth Omeruo has expressed satisfaction with the nations’s 3-2 win over Tunisia despite a tense feeling towards the end of the match, SportPremi reports.
The Super Eagles held on a spirited fightback from their North African opponents to seal maximum points and progress to the next round of the competition.
The three-time African champions also got their revenge on the Carthage Eagles, who had eliminated them from the tournament at the first knockout round in 2021.
Lookman inspires Nigeria to victory over Tunisia
Both Nigeria and Tunisia had secured opening day victories over Tanzania and Uganda respectively and clashed in a potential group winner decider at the Fez Stadium.
What was expected to be a difficult encounter was proving to be one-sided as the Super Eagles asserted their dominance early on.
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They created several chances to finding the breakthrough, but the closest they came was through Victor Osimhen, whose effort was ruled out for offside.
However, they finally got the lead their dominance deserved in the 42nd minute as Osimhen headed them in front after he was found by a cross from Ademola Lookman.
It became two three minutes after the restart as Wilfried Ndidi scored another header from a Lookman corner, before the Atalanta man joined in the act after a fine team move.
Tunisia did not give up without a fight on what was looking like a comfortable night for Nigeria as they pulled one back through Montassar Talbi, who guided a header past Stanley Nwabali.
They were then awarded a controversial penalty decision after Bright Osayi-Samuel was adjudged to have handled the ball.
Ali Abdi stepped up and converted to set up a tense end to the match, although the Super Eagles held on to claim maximum points.
Omeruo hails Nigeria win over Tunisia
While reacting to the crucial win, Kenneth Omeruo who was a recipient of three medals at the African Cup of Nations, including a gold medal in 2013, expressed satisfaction with the team’s performance.
However, the defender admitted that he felt tense toward the end of the game as Tunisia began their fightback.
“I’m impressed with the way the Super Eagles handled the game against Tunisia. It is a delight that they dominated the play and got the goals”, Omeruo stated.
“However, this is one of the best games from the Super Eagles, even though I was tensed when Tunisia netted their first and second goals and almost did a comeback late in the second half.
“Kudos to the technical crew for a job well done.”
Nigeria now have six points and are through to the round of 16 of the competition.
However, the Super Eagles will be eyeing top spot when they face Uganda in their final grouo game on the 30th.
