Nigeria reached the Africa Cup of Nations final for the first time since 2013 after they beat 10-man South Africa 4-2 on penalties in the first semifinal at the Stade de la Paix on Wednesday night.
The clash in Bouake finished 1-1 after extra time as the Super Eagles took the lead through William Troost-Ekong’s penalty in the 67th minute before Teboho Mokoena converted a late spot-kick for Bafana Bafana in the 90th minute to keep their hopes alive.
Ronwen Williams wasn’t able to reproduce his quarterfinal heroics, though, after he failed to save a single penalty on this occasion, with Kelechi Iheanacho converting the decisive kick to keep the West Africans’ 100 per cent Afcon record against Bafana Bafana intact.
The moment that sealed Nigeria’s place in the final
Nigeria dictated play in the opening stages without threatening the opposition goal and it was South Africa who created the first chance of the game on 17 minutes when Sphephelo Sithole lined up a shot from 20 yards out that flew straight at Stanley Nwabali.
Williams was called into action for the first time on 26 minutes as Semi Ajayi steered a tame header into his gloves from a free-kick before Sithole glanced a header wide of the target after getting on the end of Percy Tau’s cross in the 36th minute.
Alex Iwobi then looked to pick out the far corner of the net after linking up with Moses Simon on the left, but his curling effort from 25 yards out was easily dealt with by Williams in the 39th minute.
The best chance of the half fell to Evidence Makgopa two minutes later as he forced Nwabali to push his first-time strike away from danger after being teed up by Tau on the edge of the box, while Victor Osimhen should have done better when he headed a cross wide of the mark at the other end in the 44th minute.
However, the Super Eagles were presented with a gilt-edged chance to open the scoring on 66 minutes when Osimhen was brought down by Mothobi Mvala as the Napoli striker drove into the box.
Troost-Ekong stepped up to take the penalty and he just managed to squeeze the ball under Williams after placing it down the middle.
A captain’s goal from William Troost-Ekong
Bafana Bafana looked to respond and Makgopa wasn’t far away from restoring parity on 75 minutes with a shot on the turn that flashed wide of the goal, while back up the other end Williams did superbly well to recover and deny Lookman, who had rounded the goalkeeper after finding himself one-on-one inside the box.
There was late drama to come though, when Bright Osayi-Samuel set up Osimhen to tap home from a few yards out, only for the goal to be ruled out after VAR alerted the referee to an incident at the other end of the pitch which saw Alhassan Yusuf hack Tau down inside the box prior to Nigeria launching their attack.
A penalty was awarded to South Africa and Mokoena rifled the ball home from 12 yards out in the 90th minute to take the game to extra time.
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The only real chances in the additional 30 minutes of football saw Osimhen shoot straight at Williams on 104 minutes before he directed a header over the crossbar two minutes later.
The Super Eagles thought they had won another penalty in the 113th minute when Terem Moffi went down under a challenge from Grant Kekana as he raced through on goal.
The ref checked the incident on the pitchside monitor and then showed Kekana a straight red card, but awarded a free-kick instead of a spot-kick as contact had been made inches outside the 18-yard area.
Kelechi Iheanacho fired the set-piece straight at Williams.
A shootout ensued and Nigeria won 4-2 after Nwabali denied both Mokoena and Makgopa from the spot before Iheanacho booked their place in the final.
Nigeria (0) 1 (Troost-Ekong 67′ PEN)
South Africa (0) 1 (Mokoena 90′ PEN)
Nigeria: S. Nwabali, O. Aina, W. Troost-Ekong, S. Ajayi, C. Bassey, B. Osayi-Samuel (K. Omeruo 120+2′), F. Onyeka (J. Aribo 102′), A. Iwobi (A. Yusuf 63′), M. Simon (S. Chukwueze 63′), V. Osimhen (T. Moffi 110′), A. Lookman (K. Iheanacho 102′).
South Africa: R. Williams, K. Mudau, G. Kekana, M. Mvala, A. Modiba, T. Mokoena, S. Xulu (M. Mayambela 75′), S. Sithole, T. Zwane (Z. Lepasa 75′, N. Sibisi 117′), E. Makgopa, P. Tau.
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