Full-time: Nigeria 1-0 Burundi
The Super Eagles were forced to work hard for that by a valiant Burundian team. The debutants gave as good as they got in the first half, but Nigeria gradually found a higher groove in the second half. And their goal was a marvel, Ighalo producing a neat finish after a sumptuous backheeled pass from Aina.
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90+3 min: A corner by Bigirimana is cleared out for another. He sends this one to the edge of the six-yard box, where Fiston arrives to power a header just over the bar!
90+2 min: Burundi certainly haven’t given up. They’re going full-gun for the equaliser, making Nigeria sweat in the final seconds ...
Burundi substitution: Mohamed on, Berahino off.
90+1 min: Musa flies down the left but, as so often, makes a mess of the cross.
89 min: Fiston goes on a run towards the Nigerian box and makes a surprising amount of ground before opening fire ... with a pea-roller.
87 min: Ighalao makes a nice turn and then rattles off a shot from 25 yards. It hurtles over.
86 min: Akpeyi makes a meal of dealing with a well delivered corner, simply punching it into a crowd of players in front of him. One shot is blocked before Nigeria bundle the ball to safety.
85 min: Or maybe not! Fiston skedaddles down the left and into the box, and Nigeria have to strain to stop him, conceding a corner.
83 min: Nigeria are starting to look comfortable; Burundi look to have given their all.
81 min: Omeruo receiving treatment after a heavy fall.
78 min: After working so hard to take the lead, Nigeria almost give it away! Akpeyi flaps at a cross and drops it in front of a Berahino. But the striker is crowded out and Akpeyi exhales!
GOAL! Nigeria 1-0 Burundi (Ighalo 75)
That’s how to make an impact! Moments after coming on Ighala breaks the deadlocks with a smart finish. But Aina played a big part in the goal with a break in-field from the left and a delicious backheeled pass, worthy of Ronaldinho! Ighalo ran on to it and, from an angle, guided it past the advancing keeper and into the net!
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Nigeria substitution: Ighalo on, Onuachu off.
72 min: Corner to Burundi after Akpeyi loses his bearings and makes a one-handed save that wasn’t required, as the ball was heading way wide. The corner is badly delivered, like so many of the previous ones from both sides.
70 min: Chukwueze slaloms past two opponents and into the box, then sends a cross/shot looping over the bar.
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69 min: Dinky one-touch play by Nigeria outside the Burundian box. They’re finding their rhythm now and making Burundi strain hard. Will the pressure pay dividend?
67 min: Nigeria are starting to apply more pressure. They’re penning Burundi back.
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64 min: Amissi taps the ball back to Berahino at the corner of the box. Confronted by two defenders Berahino decides against an improbable shot and instead rolls it back to Fiston, who, with less composure, tonks the ball high and wide from distance.
63 min: A booking for Nahimana for a studs-up tackle on Ndidi. He won the ball but the technique was dicey. Ndidi sportingly tells the ref not to make a too big a deal of it but he shows a yellow card, all the same.
60 min: Lovely play by Iwobi to open up the play with a pair of clever one-touch passes. Then he releases Musa down the left and dashes into the box to join those waiting for a good delivery .... which Musa fails to provide, instead presenting the keeper with a gift.
Burundi substitution: Kamsoba on for his debut, Mustafa off.
Nigeria substitution: Musa on, Mikel off. That suggests a change of approach and, at least, an injection of mobility.
56 min: Aina flings in a throw from the left. Burundi win the header and then punt the ball clear.
54 min: Nigeria’s hopes at the moment seem to hang on Burundi tiring or one of the Super Eagles conjuring a moment of magic. Neither looks likely.
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52 min: Etebo flights a rare good setpiece delivery towards the back post. Omeruo powers a decent header just over the bar.
51 min: Bigirimana wins the ball yet again in midfield and suddenly Burundi have an opportunity to cut through a scattered Nigerian defender. But their passing lets them down and gets Nigeria off the hook.
50 min: Mikel wanders into an offside position, curtailing a Nigerian move that didn’t really seem to be going anywhere anyway.
48 min: A dive by Fiston - a swallow dive, let’s say - gives Burundi a freekick in a dangerous position on the left. Amissi fires it a low one under the two-man wall, and Akpeyi pushes it out for a corner.
46 min: Here we go again, as Whitesnake might put it.
Half-time: Nigeria 0-0 Burundi
The newcomers have held their own against the Super Eagles and, indeed, had the better chances. This one could go either way, which is something not a lot of people were saying beforehand. The only real threat from Nigeria from out wide, where Iwobi and Chukwueze have been dangerous. But Burundi are no on top in midfield, where Bigirimana is running the show, and Amissi looks sharp up front. While Gernot Rohr tries to figure out what to do about all that, why not spend half-time reading this interesting piece by Nick Ames about the Burundi side.
44 min: Chukwueze’s run down the right is brought to an undignified end by Duhayindayi. With players awaiting a delivery in the box, Chukwueze dabs an awful freekick straight to the first defender.
43 min: Freekick to Burundi from wide on the left. Bigirimana curls it in. Akpeyi punches it out.
Nigeria substitution: Awaziem on, Shehu off.
41 min: Shehu is unable to continue. For the moment Nigeria are playing on with 10 men.
39 min: Shehu is down receiving treatment. While he explains what his problems is, Olivier Niyungeko gathers his players for a powwow - not to make any major adjustment, I’ll wager, because his team have played cannily and competently so far. The game is as well balanced as the score suggests.
37 min: ay, ay, Burundi go close from a setpiece! Nsabiuma came up from the back to meet a freekick from the left, outjumping Ekong and sending a looping header over Akpeyi. It bounces of the top of the crossbar and out!
37 min: Mikel finds space to meet the incoming corner at the edge of the six-yard box but miscues his header, sending it way wide.
36 min: The increasingly influential Iwobi lets off a drive from 20 yards. Moussa makes a block at the expense of a corner.
34 min: Iwobi floats over a dangerous cross from the left. But a lack of movement from the men in the box meant it drifted across goal and out the other side of the area.
32 min: Bigirimana has been excellent in central midfield so far. He’s winning lots of possession and using is well. This is a surprisingly even game. And the more it stays like that, the more Nigeria will feel pressure: they were expected to walk this.
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31 min: Ndidi sends another long throw from the right to Onuachu. The big striker hold the ball up at the near post as he tries to create space for a shot. But he’s crowded out, and Amissi completes the clearance with an acrobatic overhead kick.
29 min: Bigirimana goes for a goal with a freekick from way out. It’s a tricky swirler, and Akpeyi find it mighty awkward but manages to bundle it away.
28 min: Etebo sweeps the ball wide to Aina on the left. The cross isn’t good but Iwobi collects it and then spins beautifully past Mustafa before laying the ball back for Amissi. The shot flies way over from 16 yards.
25 min: Onuachu with a snapshot from 20 yards, ignoring Iwobi who is free to the left. Nahimana makes a comfortable save.
23 min: Shehu gives the ball away to Berahino in midfield and then runs into an opponent and gets a lucky freekick. The standard of refereeing has been high so far in this tournament but that decision was all wrong and ruined a potential break for Burundi.
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21 min: Iwobi, who has not been much involved so far, feints his way between two defenders and look like he’s going to unleash a shot from 20 yards ... but then he tries to slip off a dainty pass, and it’s intercepted.
19 min: Burundi continue to prove bothersome. Onuachu comes back to help out at a corner, heading powerfully clear at the near post. Meanwhile, Alisdair Brooks, writing from Zamalek, Cairo, has responded to my query about the cost of attening these games. “Ticket prices for matches not involving the host nation were announced as EGP 100 (roughly GBP £5) for Category 3, EGP 300 (roughly GBP £15) for Category 2 and EGP 500 (roughly GBP £25) for Category 1. As to why more locals have not turned up to watch these matches, it’s because Egyptians are some of the most one-eyed patriots in world football. When Egypt are playing, the atmosphere will be electric. Other matches; not so much.”
16 min: Bigirmana overhits a freekick, to the angst of his teammates. Burundi’s deliveries - and defending - from setpieces are going to have be to spot-on because Nigeria are by far the bigger team.
13 min: Amissi makes a canny run into the Nigerian box and is rewarded with a beautiful clipped pass. His first touch is marvellous and his second pretty good, too, but Akpeyi makes a fine save to block the powerful shot from 12 yards. What a twist it would have been if Burundi had taken the lead!
12 min: A long throw-in from the right is flicked on by Mikel. Onuachu turns a header towards goal, bringing a good save from Nahimana.
9 min: Nigeria are having all of the ball but Burundi are well organised and aren’t making it easy. For how long they can keep this up remains to be seen.
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7 min: Chukwueze has started well. He pressures a defender into conceding a corner and then delivers it himself. Onuachu meets it at the near post but donks it over the bar.
5 min: After a period of probing by Nigeria, Chukueze darts in from the right wing, throws a couple of lollipops to distract defenders and then bangs off a decent shot from 16 yards. But Nsabiyuma makes a good block, taking the sting out of it.
3 min: Burundi have not come simply to contain: they are playing with two strikers - and they have just tried to pick out one of them with a cross into the box from the right. But Ekong rises above Fiston to head it away.
2 min: A hefty touch by Shehu enables Nahiman to nip in and take the ball off him. But Nigeria soon win it back and resume knocking it about. Burundi file back into a solid shape and prevent any easy openings.
1 min: Burundi kick off their first ever match in the finals of the Africa Cup of Nations ...
The Super Eagles are turned out in magnificent green and white jerseys with that flourish of black Vs on the arms, while Burundi are wearing their not-quite-so-familiar deep red tops with white rings around the shoulder and, um, snowdrops across the abdomen. What I wouldn’t do for subbuteo sets of these two teams.
The stadium in Alexandria is sparsely populated, save for a smattering of fans from both countries clustered in the shade in one of the stands: just how much are organisers charging to get into these matches?
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Teams
Nigeria: Akpeyi; Shehu, Troost-Ekong, Omeruo, Aina; Ndidi, Etebo; Chukwueze, Mikel, Iwobi; Onuachu
Subs: Ezenwa, Balogun, Musa, Ighalo, Onyekuru, Simon, Ogu, Awaziem, Osimhen, Uzoho
Burundi: Nahimana; Moussa, Duhayindavyi, Nsabiyumva, Ngando; Bigirimana; Nahimana, Moustapha, Amissi; Berahino Fiston
Subs: Sabumukama, Kamsoba, Kwizera, Nizigiyimana, Mavugo, Shabani, Ndikumana, Nshimirimana, Amissi, Nduwarugira, MacArthur
Referee: B Camille (Seychelles)
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Preamble
The Super Eagles’ first match in the Africa Cup of Nations is always eagerly anticipated, especially after the three-times champions contrived to miss the last two editions. But no one has been looking forward to this game more than Burundi, who are appearing in the finals for the first time. This is a historic moment - can they produce a shock to go with it?
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