Nigeria secured their first victory in the ongoing U-20 Africa Cup of Nations after seeing out the hosts Egypt 1-0 in an entertaining clash staged at the Cairo International stadium on Wednesday.A second-half powerful header from center back Solomon Agbalaka fired the Flying Eagles into the lead in the 71st minute, and they were resolute enough to hold on, admonishing the Young Pharaohs to their second game without a win in the tournament.##NAJAVA_MECA_7041332##Having drawn with Mozambique in the opener, Egypt find themselves in a not-so-likely position with one group game to go while Nigeria (now on three points after an opening game loss to Senegal) need to secure another win against the aforementioned Mozambique to book a place into the quarter finals.The Young Pharaohs looked to be the superior side in the first half, dominating possession at 55% and often created decent opportunities to get into the lead.Al Ahly’s Rafaat Khalil was at the receiving end of the first real goal-scoring chance of the game inside the thirteenth minute, but his left footed shot inside the box flew over the bar.Mohamed Hamdy was the next man to pose a threat for Egypt as he attempted a long shot from over 25 yards out but his shot was too high to threaten Chijioke Aniagboso in the Nigerian goal.FULL-TIME! ⏰ Nigeria earn their first victory in the #TotalEnergiesAFCONU20 after beating Egypt 🦅 pic.twitter.com/nm0gO08KrX— #TotalEnergiesAFCONU20 (@CAF_Online) February 22, 2023 Mostafa Makhlouf was forced into his first save of the evening as Ayuba Abubakar hit a ferocious shot into the keeper’s bottom right corner. Ibrahim Muhammad was the next man to cause trouble in the Egyptian box only for his shot cum cross to land into the keeper’s arms.Rafaat Khalil had the last chance of the first half when he cut in from the left but his curling effort went awfully wide.The second half- like the first half- took some time to get going, and it was not until the Nigerian’s pair of substitutions – that brought on Jude Sunday and Adams Alade – that the first chance at goal came.Bilal Mahzar capitalized from a lapse in concentration in the Nigerian defense but shot straight at Aniagboso just after the hour mark.AFCON U20: Senegal hammer Mozambique to book quarters spotIbrahim Muhammad’s shot that went wide was closely followed by another missed opportunity for the hosts as Khalil Rafaat scooped shot from the left seemed not to trouble the wonderful Aniagboso in goal.Nigeria soon took the lead, in the 71st minute when a superbly worked corner from Muhmmad Aminu found a towering Solomon Agbalaka in the box. The MFM FC center back delivered a strong header that flew past a hapless Mostafa in goal, eliciting wild celebrations from the Flying Eagles as they made their way to an-already celebrating bench.Nigeria made a couple of late defensive substitutions that worked effectively, as the seven-time champions kept the Egyptians at arms-length, extinguishing any effort they had to pull a goal back in the contest.Egypt face unbeaten Senegal in their final group match as Nigeria take on Mozambique. Both games will be played on Saturday 25 February.
