Nigeria Defeat Underdogs Burundi with Spectacular Late Goal

Odion Ighalo scored a late beautiful goal giving Nigeria a 1-0 win over a underdogs Burundi who played their first-ever match at the Africa Cup of Nations.

Newcomers Burundi fought evenly with the eagles in an entertaining first half as they forced keeper Daniel Akpeyi to make two critical.

Nigeria were dangerous down the lane with Samuel Chukwueze and Alex Iwobi although the Burundi defense made short work of the crosses..

Ighalo, made use of Ola Aina's clever flicked pass, placed the ball past Burundi goalkeeper Jonathan Nahimana in the 77th minute, giving his nation the hard fought victory.

"We couldn't have produced a better performances because Burundi were very organised," said Nigeria coach Gernot Rohr. "We knew Burundi were unbeaten in the qualifiers, and we knew the first matches would be difficult. These teams don't have anything to lose, they know us and know how to organised against us."