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18/1/2024–|Last updated: 1/18/202410:05 PM (Mecca time)
William Troost-Ekong scored a penalty kick in the second half, leading Nigeria to a 1-0 win over Ivory Coast on Thursday, heating up the competition in Group A of the African Cup of Nations currently being held in Ivory Coast.
Ekong scored the only goal of the match in the 55th minute, raising Nigeria’s tally to 4 points, equal to that of Equatorial Guinea, which beat Guinea Bissau 4-2 earlier today, while Ivory Coast’s tally stopped at 3 points.
William Ekong scores the lead goal for Nigeria via penalty kick 🥅 🇳🇬#Africa_Cup of Nations#totalenergiesafcon2023 pic.twitter.com/rXExLqrVWQ
— beIN SPORTS (@beINSPORTS) January 18, 2024
The decision in the group was thus postponed until the third and final round, as the Ivory Coast team meets Equatorial Guinea, and the Nigeria team meets Guinea Bissau, which is in fourth place without a score.
The first half of the match was balanced, and began with control and offensive pressure on the part of the Ivory Coast team, which made intense attempts in search of an early lead, but wasted more than one opportunity. The Nigerian team entered the atmosphere over time and imposed its attacking superiority for minutes to threaten the hosts’ goal, but all attempts in the first half were unsuccessful. It failed and ended in a goalless draw.
The Nigerian team dealt a painful blow to the Ivory Coast team and its fans early in the second half, when they won a penalty kick from which they scored the lead goal through Ekong, and after that the performance of the hosts gradually declined and the host team seemed unable to find solutions, leaving the match empty-handed and the conflict intensified. In the first group.
