| Goals | Goals |
|---|---|
| 17. William N'Gounou (9’) | 7. Youssef Msakni (4’) |
| 17. Issam Jemaa (90’) |
Jemaa breaks Niger hearts
Karim Haggui of Tunisia battles with Moussa Ouwo of Niger
Youssef Msakni scored the opener before William N’Gounou equalised in an exciting Group C clash in Libreville, which sees the Carthage Eagles through to the quarterfinals after two wins.
Niger will feel gutted, though, after some excellent scoring chances in the opening half, which could have given them a 3-1 interval lead.
But Jemaa showed a level of composure missing for a lot of the match, when he kept his cool in the danger area and slotted a winner with his left foot.
Niger almost caught Tunisia sleeping in the second minute of play when star performer Moussa Maazou chased a long ball and burst through on goal, but in what looked to be a rush of blood to the head, his first touch let him down and the goalkeeper was able to reach the ball first.
The match continued to be open ended and it did not take long for the opening goal to arrive - just two minutes later in fact.
Msakni took advantage of some slack defending, beat a couple of players on his way to goal, and as a gap opened he placed a shot past goalkeeper Daouda Kassaly , although he should have done better.
Then in the ninth minute, Niger equalised through William N'Gounou, but in rather controversial circumstances.
Maazou used his height to beat ‘keeper Aymen Mathlouthi to a high ball, and as Mathlouthi spilled the ball, N’Gounou was on hand to dive and head the ball with power over the crowd of players and into an open net.
Tunisia protested, saying Maazou used his hand. He certainly challenged Mathlouthi with his arm in the air and television replays showed that Tunisia did have a serious case.
In the 17th minute, Maazou again broke free, this time down the right flank on a counter attack. As he entered the danger area, he took one too many touches and could not keep his shot down when he finally pulled the trigger.
Then in the 30th minute, Maazou almost scored a goal of pure class. He showed electrifying pace as he burst past two defenders, but as he opened up his body to shoot, he got the attempt slightly off target.
The second half was just as open as the first, which gave the fans lots to shout about and Maazou continued to impress with his ranging runs.
Tunisia brought on Jemaa for Amine Chermiti after the break and then Oussama Darragi for Zouhaier Dhaouadi five minutes later as coach Sami Trabelsi tried to go for a win.
Then Aymen Abdennour got forward in the 64th minute and struck the upright with a long range cross goal attempt.
But Niger were not giving up as Maazou showed in the 72nd minute that he still has the legs to run down the left flank and pull back a cross, once more causing danger for Tunisia.
Tunisia left back Ammar Jamal headed over a cross in the final minutes, but moments later Jemma pounced to snatch a winner in the 90th minute.
Tunisia also hit the cross bar, via Darragi, in the dying seconds as they were clearly lifted by their second goal, thanks to some inspired tactical changes by coach Trabelsi.
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