Zambia hold Nigeria 1-1

Group C saw its third successive 1-1 draw as Zambia and Nigeria cancelled each other out in their AFCON clash at Mbombela Stadium on Friday.

The tie was off to a messy start especially from Zambia who lacked composure on the ball, while Nigeria slowly started to find their feet.

In the 17th minute Zambia created the first real chance of the game. A dangerous ball across the face of the Super Eagles goal found Rainford Kalaba, but his shot went just wide of the near post.

Eight minutes later the Super Eagles won a penalty when Davies Nkausu brought Ahmed Musa down in the area with a clumsy tackle. Jon Obi Mikel stepped up to take it but he dragged the shot and hit the post.

A swift counter attack from Zambia seemed to put Christopher Katongo straight through on goal 10 minutes before the break, but he was flagged offside.

Emenike injected some much-needed impetus into the game after the break. The Spartak player was under immense pressure from defenders but managed to get a chip-shot over Kennedy Mweene only to see it go just wide.

However, in the 57th minute the striker got a deserved goal to put Nigeria ahead. Mikel made up for his penalty miss with a glorious through-ball that Emenike pounced on and fired home.

The forward continued his onslaught on the hour mark and forced a last-ditch interception from Sunzu as he was looking to shoot from the angle.

The game turned on its head in the 83rd minute when Zambia were awarded a dubious penalty. Ogenyi Onazi only made minimal contact with Emmanuel Mayuka on the edge of the area, but the referee decided it warranted a spot-kick. Goalkeeper Mweene stepped up and slotted it to salvage a valuable point for Zambia.