Nigeria 0 Central African Republic 1 : Eagles concede late goal in shock loss to Les Fauves

The Super Eagles were defeated 1-0 by the Central African Republic in their third Group C game of the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifiers at the Teslim Balogun Stadium Lagos on Thursday evening.

The Eagles had garnered six points ahead of today's game and still top the table despite the setback and Cape Verde's 2-1 win over Liberia in the other group game.

In the18th minute, Iheanacho found Osimhen but his control let him down. The Napoli striker also hit his shot wide in the 28th minute from the edge of the box.

The Eagles had a penalty shout but the call by the Nigerian players and the fans were rebuffed by the referee.

There were no panic situation for  the Eagles when  a CAR forward fouled Osimhen in the 33rd minute enroute to scoring a 'goal' that was duly called off.

With two minutes left to play in the first half, Joe Aribo lost the ball in the middle of the park but William Troost-Ekong came to his rescue and cleared the ball off the feet of a CAR forward bearing down on goal.

Iheanacho was substituted at half time by debutant Taiwo Awoniyi and 12 minutes into the second half the Union Berlin striker had a shot deflected for a corner kick few minutes after Aribo had a shot saved.

Francis Uzoho was called into action in the 68th minute as he gathered the ball on the second attempt with the visitors threatening to score from a free-kick.

Leon Balogun came close to breaking the deadlock in the 73rd minute but his shot missed target by whiskers.

Samuel Kalu came off the bench in place of Moses Simon and tried his luck from 25 yards through a free-kick as the crowd demanded for a goal.

Leon Balogun cleared a dangerous ball in the 85th minute with Jamilu Collins already beaten to the ball.

In the 91st minute, Karl Namnganda pounced on some sloppy defending to score against the three-time African champions and set up a crucial game in prospect in the reverse fixture on Sunday.