Super Eagles head coach, Eric Chelle, on Saturday, said his team deserved the 3-2 victory over Tunisia as the West African country progressed to the round of 16 of the ongoing Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco with one game to spare.

Chelle disclosed this while speaking to reporters at the post match conference on Saturday night, noting that it was an earned win for his players after they controlled the game for 75 minutes despite the last-gasp pressure from Tunisia to stage a dramatic turnaround.

“In the game, we were in control for 75 minutes,” Chelle said. “We scored three goals and maybe a loss of concentration after then. Tunisia tried to increase the pressure on us but we deserved this victory. And at the end of the half time, we had 70 per cent of possession so I am very happy and proud of my players.”

Saturday’s game saw Victor Osimhen open his tournament’s scoring account just before the halftime break, heading home a cross by Ademola Lookman to give Nigeria a well-deserved lead. 

Barely five minutes into the second half, Wilfred Ndidi doubled Nigeria’s lead as he met Lookman’s corner kick with a powerful header. Lookman got his goal in the 67th minute as he fired home a pass from Osimhen to make it 3-0.

Despite being so far behind, the Tunisians did not relent in their efforts to get back into the game and that paid off in the 74th minute when Montassar Talbi headed home Hannibal Mejbri’s freekick to pull one back. 

Tunisia netted again in the 87th minute through Ali Abdi, who scored from the spot after the referee awarded a controversial penalty to the North African side for a handball by Bright Osayi-Samuel. 

Speaking further, Chelle reiterated that he was happy to have won the encounter. He, however, admitted that the team must continue to improve, adding that the players made some mistakes in the match. 

“I am happy because we won. We improve with every game. The first game was good, we won and the second game, we did some good things as well as some bad things but we have to continue to improve,” the 48-year-old stated.

On the controversial penalty call, Chelle said, “I didn’t see the replay of the incident. But I don’t know the rules because they told us if the pay touches the body before the hand, there is no penalty.”

Meanwhile, Lookman also emphasised that the team should be happy with the performance, stating, “It was a victory today. Our performance was good. We can be proud of ourselves tonight.”

On the late pressure from the Tunisians, the former African Player of the Year, revealed “We tried to stay calm in the last seven minutes and we got the win.”