Victor Osimhen scored but couldn't lift Nigeria to a winning start in the Africa Cup of Nations as the "Super Eagles" were held 1-1 by Equatorial Guinea in their opening game on Sunday, January 14. Goalkeeper Jesús Owono produced a string of saves to frustrate three-time champion Nigeria in the second half after Osimhen had equalized in the first.
Nigeria dominated from the start only to be caught out in the 36th minute when José Machín set up Iban Salvador to fire Equatorial Guinea ahead. Osimhen replied around a minute later when Ademola Lookman's deflected cross dropped kindly for him to head in at the far post.
Nigeria struck the post through Moses Simon but was unable to get any more goals despite intense pressure, with Owono in inspired form.
The result leaves coach José Peseiro's team under pressure going into Thursday's Group A game against host nation Côte d'Ivoire, which started the tournament Saturday with a 2-0 win over Guinea-Bissau.
Peseiro surprised many by dropping AC Milan forward Samuel Chukwueze and Fulham defender Calvin Bassey to the bench in favor of Nantes forward Simon and PAOK's William Troost-Ekong at the back. Osimhen scored 10 of the team's 22 goals in qualifying for the tournament, five more than any other player.
Nigeria is going for its fourth title after its last win in 2013. Nigeria lost the final the last time the competition was staged in Côte d'Ivoire in 1984.
Equatorial Guinea is making just its fourth appearance, and only the second after having to qualify as a non-host.
Mohamed Salah saved Egypt from an embarrassing defeat in their opening Africa Cup of Nations game on Sunday as he converted a penalty seven minutes into injury time to snatch a 2-2 draw with Mozambique.
The penalty was awarded following a VAR check by the referee for a foul on Mostafa Mohamed in the area at the Felix Houphouet Boigny Stadium in Abidjan, and Salah's strike denied Mozambique a historic first-ever AFCON win.
"It was a very, very difficult game. I was sad seeing my players devastated at the end because we deserved the win," said the Mozambique coach, Chiquinho Conde.
Mohamed had given record seven-time African champions Egypt the ideal start when he scored inside two minutes of the Group B encounter, but the sapping heat and humidity then seemed to get the better of the Pharaohs.
Mozambique, who had not won a match in 12 previous attempts in four past appearances at the Cup of Nations, equalized through Witiness Quembo in the 55th minute.
The game was completely turned on its head as Mozambique scored again three minutes later when Clesio Bauque, on as a half-time substitute, burst through to make it 2-1. The Mauritanian referee thwarted them as he ruled that Macandza had fouled Mohamed in the area at the death, giving Salah the opportunity to score from the spot.
Salah saved Egypt, but it was not a convincing start to their campaign in Côte d'Ivoire where they are attempting to win a record-extending eighth AFCON crown and a first since 2010, before the Liverpool superstar had made his international debut.
Their next match here against Ghana on Thursday could still make or break their campaign before a final group outing against Cape Verde.
Substitute Garry Rodrigues pounced in injury time to give Cape Verde a shock 2-1 win over four-time former champions Ghana in their opening game at the Africa Cup of Nations on Sunday.
Ghanaians' tally of AFCON victories is bettered only by Egypt and Cameroon. However, their last title came in 1982 and they went out of the last edition two years ago in the group stage.
Cape Verde went ahead in the 17th minute when Ghana goalkeeper Richard Ofori turned out a shot by Jovane Cabral and Monteiro followed in to score.
Ghana, with significant backing among the crowd of just under 12,000, thought they had equalized in the 36th minute.
Ashimeru, of Anderlecht, rifled a shot from outside the area low into the corner, just after an Antoine Semenyo cross was cleared by goalkeeper Vozinha and ricocheted back onto the woodwork off Ghana forward Ransford-Yeboah Koenigsdoerffer.
Yet the goal was ruled out following a long VAR check, with the referee apparently ruling that Koenigsdoerffer was blocking the goalkeeper's line of sight as he came back from an offside position.
Djiku headed in Jordan Ayew's delivery to make it 1-1 on 56 minutes, and Ghana then sent on Ayew as well as Ernest Nuamah and Inaki Williams as they hoped to find a winner.
Yet their defense appeared susceptible and the goal that won it for Cape Verde was a horror show for the Ghanaians, as Ofori failed to deal with a low ball into the box and Rodrigues converted to spark wild celebrations.