. As Nigeria secures win over Tanzania

Nigeria last night secured three points following its 2-1 win over Tanzania in their Group C AFCON 2025 opener.

Goals from Semi Ajayi and Ademola Lookman guided the Super Eagles to a hard-fought result against a persistent Tanzania side, for which M’Mombwa scored the consolation goal.

The victory in Fez is Nigeria’s fifth over Tanzania in eight matches across all competitions. Tanzania has yet to defeat Nigeria although three of their encounters have ended in draws.

Ademola Lookman scored a superb second-half winner as Nigeria earned a 2-1 Africa Cup of Nations Group C victory over Tanzania in the pouring rain in Fez, a positive start for the silver medallists from two years ago, but one that was not without moments of alarm.

Nigeria were more dominant than the score line suggests in terms of possession and chances, but they failed to finish off the contest and were almost made to pay for their wastefulness in front of goal by their East African opponents.

Semi Ajayi headed Nigeria in front in the first half before Charles M’Mombwa equalised five minutes after halftime. The Tanzanians’ joy lasted only two minutes, however, as Lookman fired in what proved to be the winner from outside the box.

Nigerian defender Ajayi, who scored a header that sent his team 1-0 up in the 36th minute, was named the player of the match.

On his reaction after the game, Ajayi stated: “It’s an amazing feeling to score for your country and in such a game it gives us the possibility of getting a good start. We had an amazing tournament in Cote D’Ivoire and we are using that as a standard.

We are a team we don’t need to get goals only from the attackers and it’s pleasing to contribute to the success of the team. There are a lot of positives to take from the game and some things to fix and we will work on that to kill games going forward”

Nigeria will face Tunisia in their second group game on Saturday, before playing Uganda in their final fixture on December 30.  Tanzania faces Uganda on Saturday, while they end their group phase with a meeting with Tunisia on December 30.