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Nigeria completed their Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) Group D campaign with a third successive win to secure top spot, with Umar Sadiq’s second-half strike setting the ‘Super-Eagles’ on their way to a 2-0 victory over Guinea-Bissau.Half an hour into the game and the highlight was undoubtedly a small number of spectators doing the conga throughout the stands – there really wasn’t that much by way of viewing on the pitch. Kelechi Iheanacho must’ve seen what was happening off the pitch and decided to provide some much-needed entertainment, as he connected with a bicycle kick from a corner but could do no more than sting the palms of Maurice Gomis in the Guinea-Bissau goal. Only a win would do for Guinea-Bissau if they were to have any chance of progressing to the knockout stages, but the early signs pointed to an equally early exit.Nigeria had been relatively quiet in the first half – perhaps because they already knew their safe passage to the last 16 was secured, but they were full of life in the opening stages of the second half and reaped their reward. Iheanacho’s sumptuous outside-of-the-foot pass laid the ball on a plate for Sadiq, who simply couldn’t miss from six yards to score his maiden international goal. A swift VAR check confirmed the goal, but to the bemusement of Sadiq, he was instantly hooked by Augustine Eguavoen.The ‘Super Eagles’ wrapped the game up 10 minutes from time when Moses Simon tricked his way into the area and when his shot crashed back off the upright, William Troost-Ekong was on hand to tap home the rebound. Not only have Guinea-Bissau never won an AFCON tournament game, they have now become the first team in history to go seven consecutive games in AFCON history without scoring a single goal.

In what proved to be a thrilling conclusion to Group C, Comoros claimed their first-ever victory at the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON), with a dramatic 3-2 win that sent 10-man Ghana crashing out at the group stage for the first time since 2006.Having failed to score in their opening two group fixtures, Comoros entered the contest searching for their first-ever goal at the AFCON, but fans of ‘Les Coelacanths’ would not have to wait any longer for their piece of history. In the fourth minute, a swift counter attack was clinically finished off by El Fardou Ben Nabouhane, who drove the ball into the bottom corner to give his side a precious lead.On the brink of a shock exit from the tournament, Ghana’s task became all the more difficult, when André Ayew was shown a controversial red card in the 25th minute. The Al-Sadd man was dismissed for a challenge on goalkeeper Salim Ben Boina, which led to the Comoros number one being replaced by Ali Ahamada. The ‘Black Stars’ responded well to Ayew’s dismissal and were inches away from equalising before HT, when Thomas Partey’s thunderous free-kick whistled just wide.Although the second half started slowly, the contest came to life just after the hour mark. Ahmed Mogni doubled his side’s advantage, when he created a yard of space to fire past Joe Wollacott from the edge of the box. The two-goal cushion was to be short-lived though, as substitute Richmond Boakye headed home Daniel-Kofi Kyereh’s corner-kick to give Ghana a foothold in the contest.With momentum in their favour, the 10 men began to pile the pressure on the Comoros defence, and they restored parity in the 77th minute, with Alexander Djiku sweeping home from a corner kick. Despite squandering a two-goal lead, Amir Abdou’s side snatched all three points when Mogni grabbed his second goal of the evening, poking the ball into the awaiting net from close range. The narrow victory may not be enough for Comoros, who will now have to see if they qualify as one of the four best third-placed teams.

A resilient Brighton & Hove Albion performance earned them a well-deserved point against an out of form Chelsea side, who now find themselves a dozen points behind leaders Manchester City.A depleted Brighton needed to be at their very best to stand any chance against a wounded Chelsea side that lost to title rivals Manchester City over the weekend. Despite having never beaten Chelsea in the Premier League, the ‘Seagulls’ could look to their hard-fought draw in the reverse fixture for some inspiration, and they started on the front foot, with Jakub Moder’s early shot going just wide of the post following a well worked move.Brighton continued to dominate for the opening 30 minutes, but struggled to carve out any clear-cut chances. Chelsea then showed their attacking quality shortly after, when Hakim Ziyech cut inside from the left and hammered the ball into the bottom corner to give his side a 1-0 lead – with their first shot on target – going into HT.The ‘Albion’ continued to pose an attacking threat, and got their just reward on the hour mark, when Alexis Mac Allister’s perfectly placed corner found the head of Adam Webster, who thumped ipast Kepa Arrizabalaga to make it 1-1. For his part, Tariq Lamptey posed a constant threat down the right-hand side, and almost capped a brilliant performance with a goal, stinging Kepa’s hands with 20 minutes remaining.Up at the other end, Lukaku then reminded a jubilant Brighton crowd that the European champions were far from out of it, when he forced Robert Sánchez into a smart save. The visitors dominated the closing stages, pinning the hosts firmly in their own half, but uncharastically looked devoid of quality, consistently failing to trouble Sánchez.Both teams kept battling for the win, ultimately playing out an entertaining draw. The result means Chelsea have now only won once in their last seven league games, all but casting them out of the title race. Brighton, who are unbeaten in the league since the 20th November, remain in the top half of the table.

After scoring just two goals in his previous 21 league appearances, Hirving Lozano became Napoli’s unlikely hero as he grabbed his third Serie A (SA) career brace, helping his side to a 2-0 victory at the Stadio Renato Dall’Ara.After suffering a dramatic exit from the Coppa Italia last time out, Napoli were looking to bounce back in Bologna. Lozano and Fabián Ruiz both saw red in the cup defeat, but they nearly made amends in the opening exchanges when the latter found the former with a sublime through ball, but the Mexico international was denied by a sprawling Łukasz Skorupski. Lozano, though, didn’t have to wait too long for his goal, as in the 20th minute, he guided home Elif Elmas’ precise low cross to give Napoli the lead.‘I Rossoblù’ have faltered in recent weeks, losing four of their last five league games, and it took 39 minutes for the hosts to fashion an opening in this encounter, with Marko Arnautović thwarted by the legs of Alex Meret. Despite Napoli’s dominance, their lead remained slender at the break, although Ruiz was inches from doubling their advantage when his fierce effort rattled the post moments before HT.The interval did nothing to interrupt the visitors’ dominance as Lozano grabbed his second goal just minutes into the second half. A free-flowing counter-attack culminated in Ruiz finding the winger in the box, and the 26-year-old showed great composure to register his fourth league goal of the season.Despite failing to score in just two of their ten home league games this season, Bologna found it tough to muster a response against a Napoli side that possess the best defence in SA. There were momentary glimpses of hope, with Aaron Hickey stinging the palms of Meret, while Mattias Svanberg struck the upright in stoppage time, but they were ultimately lacking in front of goal. ‘I Partenopei’ resisted the hosts’ late attacks to claim their 12th league clean sheet this term, and the victory leaves Luciano Spalletti’s side just four points adrift of league leaders Inter Milan.

AC Milan missed out on the opportunity to move to the top of the Serie A (SA) table, after they lost 2-1 to a spirited Spezia side. Ex-Inter Milan player, Thiago Motta saw his side deliver a fantastic favour for his former side as they remain in top spot, and also ended Milan’s run of four consecutive victories.Milan’s intentions were clear right from the very start, relentlessly attacking Spezia’s goal but they were thwarted throughout the first half by Ivan Provedel, who was very much up to the task. It looked like Milan were frustratingly going into the HT break with the score 0-0, but Provedel gifted them an opportunity to open the scoring. The goalkeeper clumsily wiped out Leão in his own box, and upstepped Theo Hernandez, but the Frenchman dragged his penalty wide. Now it definitely looked like it was going to be 0-0 at HT, but Leão had other ideas, as he was brilliantly played through on goal by Rade Krunić, and the Portuguese spectacularly lobbed the onrushing Provedel to instead send them into the break with a well deserved one-goal lead.The second half began in the same manner as the first, with one-way traffic as Milan pushed for a two-goal cushion. However, the hosts were stunned around the hour mark when a fantastic team move from Spezia was finished off by Kevin Agudelo. The leveller seemed to have rattled Milan, who looked nervous despite all of their dominance for the previous hour.Milan thought they had found the winner in the 93rd minute, but just before Junior Messias pulled the trigger on a fantastic curling shot which flew into the back of the net, the referee had blown his whistle to give the hosts a free kick, meaning the goal could not stand, much to the frustration of the home side and Pioli. Then in the 95th minute a quickfire Spezia counter-attack saw Emmanuel Gyasi finish take full advantage and net a late winner, stunnig the Rossoneri and stopping any dreams they had of going top.

For the first time in their history, Nigeria have won their two opening Africa Cup of Nations games in consecutive tournament after producing a dominant performance to claim 3-1 victory over Sudan.

Unbeaten in their last four outings, Nigeria entered their second group stage game full of confidence, and they were in front within minutes. Moses Simon latched onto a long throw into the Sudan penalty area, and with his back to goal, the Nantes player laid the ball of to Samuel Chukwueze, who found the bet with a clinical left-footed strike.

Not content with their early opener, the ‘Super Eagles’ went looking for more, and their relentless pressure saw William Troost-Ekong denied by a sprawling Ali Abdallah Abu-Eshrein before Taiwo Awoniyi poked the ball against the post from close range. Despite not knowing much about it, the Union Berlin man did eventually found the net just before the break. Sudan failed to deal with Kelechi Iheancho’s deep free-kick, which culminated into the ball bouncing off Awoniyi and into the net.

The ‘Super Eagles’ start to the second half made the one to the first period seem sluggish as, within a minute of the restart, Augustine Eguavoen’s side were celebrating their third goal of the contest. After creating the opener, it was now Simon’s turn to put his name on their scoresheet, the 26-year-old sliding the ball home after a quick one-two Awoniyi.

With less than 25minutes to play, Sudan were giving a lifeline when referee Victor Gomes pointed to the spot following a VAR review, penalizing Ola Aina for a shirt pull. Walieldin Khidir assumed responsibility, and calmly side-footed his spot-kick into the top corner to score his nation’s first goal of the tournament.

Although, they were unable to muster a comeback, Burhan Tia’s side can take encouragement from much improved second-half display, while the three points ensure Nigeria will take part in the knockout phase.