The curtains have been drawn against the Super Eagles of Nigeria in their quest to win the AFCON 2019 tournament in Egypt. Coming against the Desert Foxes of Algeria, the team crashed out in the semi-final game that ended in 2-1 defeat on Sunday night.
The game which proved to be a tough hurdle for both teams was expected to go either way as none of the two countries was willing to give away their chances of winning the African Cup Of Nations title.
Thirty minutes into the match, the dynamics of the game started to change as the Desert Foxes pressed for goal. The pressure turned out positive as an unwitting deflection from William Ekong helped Algeria take a 1-0 lead against Nigeria on the 40th minute.
After several misses and near attempts by both teams, a long strike from Nigeria was stopped by the hand of Algerian defender in the box. Penalty was awarded to Nigeria and Odion Ighalo converted it to equalize the score at the 72nd minute.
Towards the end of the 90-minute mark, Algeria became determined to score more goals, but they were shielded away by the Super Eagles. However, a perfectly taken free kick by Mahrez at the last minute put Algeria in the lead. There was no coming back for the Super Eagles because the game ended almost immediately.
Nigeria will now play for the third place match with Tunisia on Wednesday, July 17, while Senegal and Algeria will play the AFCON final on Friday, July 19, 2019.
This will be the first time that Algeria will be reaching the AFCON finals since 1990.