Tunisia Knock Super Eagles of Nigeria Out of AFCON 2021 As Alex Iwobi Sees Red Card

• Nigeria vs Tunisia ended in disaster for the Super Eagles who were knocked out of the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations
• A lone strike by Youssef Msakni in the 46th minute was enough to book the Carthage Eagles a place in the quarter-final
• Nigeria were reduced to 10-men after Everton of England man Alex Iwobi was sent off barely a minute after coming on as a substitute

Tunisia are through to the quarter-final of the ongoing Africa Cup of Nations after seeing off the Super Eagles of Nigeria 1-0 at the Stade Roumdé Adjia in Garoua.

The North African side who reached the Round of 16 as one of the best losers from the group stage put up a scintillating performance to beat the Super Eagles who won all their group games.

Nigeria were reduced to 10-men in the 64th minute after Alex Iwobi was sent off for dangerous tackle. The Everton man was initially shown a yellow, but after VAR review, the centre-referee brandished a red card.

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How it all happened

But Tunisia did it the hard way as the Super Eagles of Nigeria made their intentions clear as early as the 2nd minute when Wilfred Ndidi attempted an overhead kick in the Tunisian area, with the ball going wide.

With nothing really spectacular in the early exchanges, the Carthage Eagles began to grow in confidence winning a freekick that Oussama Hadadi headed over the bar.

The North Africans came close and were unlucky not to have taken the lead in the 10th minute following a crucial goal-line clearance by Wilfred Ndidi to deny Montassar Omar from netting the opener.

Samuel Chukwueze came close in the 16th minute firing with his weaker foot as goalkeeper Montassar Omar does well to come the way of Taiwo Awoniyi.

Kelechi Iheanacho picked up a yellow card in the 20th minute as Tunisia began to improve upfront with the ball ending in the hands of Maduka Okoye who looked shaky in making the save.

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In the 35th minute, Moses Simon caused problems for the opposition defence but still, Carthage Eagles defence was resolute.

There was no major attempt in the latter stages of the first half as both sides went into the break 0-0.

And upon return from the break, Tunisia broke the deadlock in the 46th minute after Youssef Msakni found space and unleashed the screamer beyond hapless goalkeeper Maduka Okoye.

The Nigerian number one should have done better as he could only parry the ball into his own net.

Nigeria desperate for an equalizer

Desperate for an equalizer, Moses Simon rolled the pass to Wilfred Ndidi who tried his luck from 32 yards. His effort went wide.

In the 72nd minute, Ola Aina beat two defenders before setting up Samuel Chukwueze who curled a dangerous one. It was close!

In the 83rd minute, Moses Simon's free-kick almost sailed in but went inches over the bar. The Super Eagles battled hard to restore parity but that was how it ended; Nigeria 0-1 Tunisia.

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Gabon through to the quarter-final

Sports Brief earlier reported that Burkina Faso are through to the quarter-finals of the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations.

Burkina Faso booked a place in the last eight of the competition after seeing off Gabon 7-6 in post-match penalties in a thrilling last 16 tie played on Sunday, January 23.

The match had to be decided via penalties after they settled for a 1-1 draw after regulation time.