BOUAKE, Cote d'Ivoire
Nigeria reached the Africa Cup of Nations final for the first time since 2013 after they beat 10-man South Africa 4-2 on penalties in the first semifinal at the Stade de la Paix on Wednesday night.
The clash in Bouake finished
1-1 after extra time as the Super Eagles took the lead through William
Troost-Ekong's penalty in the 67th minute before Teboho Mokoena converted a
late spot-kick for Bafana Bafana in the 90th minute to keep their hopes alive.
Ronwen Williams wasn't able to
reproduce his quarterfinal heroics, though, after he failed to save a single
penalty on this occasion, with Kelechi Iheanacho converting the decisive kick
to keep the West Africans' 100 per cent Afcon record against Bafana Bafana
intact.
Nigeria dictated play in the
opening stages without threatening the opposition goal and it was South Africa
who created the first chance of the game on 17 minutes when Sphephelo Sithole
lined up a shot from 20 yards out that flew straight at Stanley Nwabali.
Williams was called into
action for the first time on 26 minutes as Semi Ajayi steered a tame header
into his gloves from a free-kick before Sithole glanced a header wide of the
target after getting on the end of Percy Tau's cross in the 36th minute.
Alex Iwobi then looked to pick
out the far corner of the net after linking up with Moses Simon on the left,
but his curling effort from 25 yards out was easily dealt with by Williams in
the 39th minute.
The best chance of the half
fell to Evidence Makgopa two minutes later as he forced Nwabali to push his
first-time strike away from danger after being teed up by Tau on the edge of
the box, while Victor Osimhen should have done better when he headed a cross
wide of the mark at the other end in the 44th minute.
However, the Super Eagles were
presented with a gilt-edged chance to open the scoring on 66 minutes when
Osimhen was brought down by Mothobi Mvala as the Napoli striker drove into the
box.
Troost-Ekong stepped up to
take the penalty and he just managed to squeeze the ball under Williams after
placing it down the middle.
Bafana Bafana looked to respond and Makgopa wasn't far away from restoring parity on 75 minutes with a shot on the turn that flashed wide of the goal, while back up the other end Williams did superbly well to recover and deny Lookman, who had rounded the goalkeeper after finding himself one-on-one inside the box.
There was late drama to come
though, when Bright Osayi-Samuel set up Osimhen to tap home from a few yards
out, only for the goal to be ruled out after VAR alerted the referee to an
incident at the other end of the pitch which saw Alhassan Yusuf hack Tau down
inside the box prior to Nigeria launching their attack.
A penalty was awarded to South
Africa and Mokoena rifled the ball home from 12 yards out in the 90th minute to
take the game to extra time.
The only real chances in the
additional 30 minutes of football saw Osimhen shoot straight at Williams on 104
minutes before he directed a header over the crossbar two minutes later.
The Super Eagles thought they
had won another penalty in the 113th minute when Terem Moffi went down under a
challenge from Grant Kekana as he raced through on goal.
The ref checked the incident
on the pitchside monitor and then showed Kekana a straight red card, but
awarded a free-kick instead of a spot-kick as contact had been made inches
outside the 18-yard area.
Kelechi Iheanacho fired the
set-piece straight at Williams.
A shootout ensued and Nigeria
won 4-2 after Nwabali denied both Mokoena and Makgopa from the spot before
Iheanacho booked their place in the final.
Nigeria: S.
Nwabali, O. Aina, W. Troost-Ekong, S. Ajayi, C. Bassey, B. Osayi-Samuel (K.
Omeruo 120+2'), F. Onyeka (J. Aribo 102'), A. Iwobi (A. Yusuf 63'), M. Simon
(S. Chukwueze 63'), V. Osimhen (T. Moffi 110'), A. Lookman (K. Iheanacho 102').
South Africa: R.
Williams, K. Mudau, G. Kekana, M. Mvala, A. Modiba, T. Mokoena, S. Xulu (M.
Mayambela 75'), S. Sithole, T. Zwane (Z. Lepasa 75', N. Sibisi 117'), E.
Makgopa, P. Tau.
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