Defending champions Senegal-Lions of Teranga began their CHAN title defence with a 1-0 win over Nigeria, in a cagey Group D contest played on Tuesday night at the Amaan Stadium in Zanzibar City.
Both teams settled for a barren draw in the 1st stanza with few goal-scoring opportunities created.
Christian Gomis’ 75th-minute goal following a Nigerian defence lapse was enough to seal the victory for the 2022 champions in the West African derby.
Despite the Super Eagles, who were making a return to CHAN since their 2018 dominance and enjoying large ball possession, they created very few goal-scoring chances in the final third of the Senegal team.
The Teranga Lions will be going into their 2nd match on the 12th of this month against Congo, needing a victory to book their slot in the quarter-finals, while Nigeria, must beat Sudan to keep their chances of progressing to the last eight alive.
In an earlier Group D match in the same venue, Congo-Red Devils left it late to snatch a point against Sudan’s Nile Crocodiles as they played to 1-1 all draw.
Senegal leads the group on 3 points, followed by Congo and Sudan on 1 point apiece, while Nigeria is at the bottom of group D without a point.
