The Super Eagles of Nigeria started the campaign for the AFCON tournament on a bright note with 1-0 defeat of the Swallows of Burundi on Saturday.
The match played in Alexandria Stadium was keenly contested by the two teams, but the first half ended goalless.
The introduction of Ahmed Musa and Odion Ighalo in the second half by Coach Gernot Rohr gave a pep to the attacking formation of the team and retained the team’s dominance of the game.
But in the 77th minute of the second half, substitute Ighalo collected a good pass from Ola Aina and put the ball beyond the Burundian goalkeeper for the only goal of the match.
The Burundians raised their game in search of the equaliser, but the Super Eagles defence did not cave in to the pressure mounted by them.
However, the Super Eagles did not relent as they pressed on in search of the second goal, which did not happen until the referee blew the final whistle to close proceedings in the first match in Group B.
GIK/APA