Group C rivals all square in Friday ties

Group C Tunisia 1-1 NigeriaNiger 2 -2 Guinea Tunisia and Nigeria played out a 1-all draw in their second African Nations Championships Group C match at Kigali Regional Stadium yesterday. The Super Eagles, who started the day top of the group following their 4-1 win over Niger in the first match, took the lead in the 52nd minute through Chisome Chikatara. The striker, who was set up by Osas Okoro, netted his fourth goal of the tournament, but Tunisia drew level in the 70th minute, thanks to Ahmed Akaichi, for his third goal in two games – he also needed both goals in the 2-2 draw with Guinea. Tunisia made the better start to the game, and had the first two attempts on goal through Akaichi but Nigeria grew in confidence as the game progressed. Akaichi had the ball in the back of the Nigeria net at the stroke of half-time, but the referee ruled the ball had gone over the bi-line before it was pulled back. The Super Eagles have four points from two matches, while Tunisia is second on two points ahead of the last group matches on Tuesday when Nigeria takes on Guinea at Umuganda Stadium in Rubavu while Tunisia will be up against Niger at Kigali Regional Stadium. After the game, Nigeria head coach Sunday Oliseh said his side deserved more than a draw because they dominated the game. “We played well especially in second half but we didn’t manage to get the ball in the back of the net. We were trying to get all three points but one point is not bad and we will try to get points in our last game,” the former Nigeria captain said. He added that, “Our target remains the same, we want to get out of the group then we will plan accordingly in last eight, but I am confident we will make it because with four points we can still qualify.” His counterpart Hatem Missaoui said they are going to give everything to win the last game as they bid to reach the last eight and probably go all the way to their second CHAN title to add their 2011 success in Sudan. Missaoui said, “We played against a very good Nigeria team, so it is not bad to get a point even if we wanted to get all three (points), we are going to do our best to secure a win against Niger so that we can qualifier for next round.” editorial@newtimes.co.rw

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Group C rivals all square in Friday ties