CHAN defending champions Senegal beat the Super Eagles of Nigeria 1-0 in their Group D opener at the Amaan Stadium in Zanzibar on Tuesday, www.aclsports.com reports. In a tight encounter with few chances, the Teranga Lions of Senegal triumphed via Christian Gomis’s second-half goal after a defensive mix-up in the Eagles’ defence.
Eric Chelle, in Nigeria’s first CHAN match since 2018, handed a surprise start to Jabbar Malik and Qudus Akanni, as Haruna Hadi and Harrison Uzondu had to make do with a place on the bench. In goal, Shooting Stars’ Mustapha Lawal started ahead of first-choice Ani Ozoemena, who was completely omitted from the matchday squad, with Kwara United goalkeeper Nurudeen Badmus named on the bench.
The Eagles started with some fine combinations in midfield, but they barely made moves into the Senegalese half. Midfielder Michael Tochukwu was booked for a two-footed challenge after just six minutes. Meanwhile, the defending champions made several moves into the Nigerian half, but they barely tested goalkeeper Mustapha.
Senegalese wingers Libasse Gueye and Ameth Niang were causing the Nigerian defence a whole lot of problems, and in the 23rd minute, skipper Junior Nduka had to bring the former down and get himself in the referee’s book. Apart from Moctar Koitar flashing his effort wide and Sikiru Alimi’s weak effort on goal, the half barely produced a major talking point.
After the interval, Nigeria emerged as the better side, controlling possession, but they could not create clear goalscoring chances. Akanni Qudus came close to scoring with his effort, as it went inches away from the target. However, a defensive mix-up in the Super Eagles’ defence 15 minutes from time handed the Teranaga Lions the opportunity to score through Christian Gomis.
Despite the introductions of Shola Adelani and Vincent Temitope after the Lions went in front, Nigeria failed to get back into the game as the defending champions kicked off their title defence with a narrow win.
Nigeria will hope to bounce back when they face Sudan in their second group game next Tuesday, while Senegal will trade tackles with Congo. Both matches will be played at the Amaan Stadium in Zanzibar.
