The Super Eagles of Nigeria on Monday night defeated the Djurtus of Equatorial Guinea by 1-0 courtesy of an own goal by defender, Opa Sangate.
The only goal of the encounter came in the 36th minute of the thrilling encounter when Djurtus defender, Sanagate cleared a cross from Ola Aina wrongly and into his own net.
All efforts by the Super Eagles to score in the encounter proved abortive as the center referee from Morocco Bouchra Karboubi disallowed two goals.
Meanwhile, at the Alassane Quattara stadium in Ebimpe, Equatorial Guinea defeated the host nation 4-0 to finish top of group A.
The current tournament’s highest goal scorer, Emilio Nsue scored two goals to increase his tally to 5 while P Garnet and J Buyla scored one goal each to condemn the Ivorians to 3rd on the log.
The results from both centers meant that the Super Eagles finished second while Equatorial Guinea finished first on the log.
The Elephants of Ivory Coast would have to wait for the end of the group matches to know if they will qualify as one of the third-best-placed teams at the tournament.
Nigeria’s Super Eagles will play either Cameroon or Guinea in the second round of the competition on Sunday at the Stade Felix Houphouet stadium.