Bafana Bafana rode their luck as they avoided an Afcon pak from Nigeria on Saturday.
Stuart Baxter’s manne got away with a share of the spoils, drawing 1-1 as they benefited from two wrongfully-denied offside strikes by the Super Eagles at Soccer City on Saturday.
The result means South Africa are second in Group E, one point behind Nigeria, and they will need at least a point from their away game to Libya next March to book their tickets to Cameroon.
And they will have to be a little more adventurous and disciplined when they meet the north Africans.
After an open start to the match on Saturday, Bafana were let off the hook big time after the Nigerians got in behind Cape Town City right-back Thami Mkhize and had the ball in the back of the net.
UNDER PRESSURE: Bafana. Photo: ITUMELENG ENGLISH/INLSA
But the linesman had his flag up, quickly but incorrectly.
However, Bafana would finally concede the first goal of their campaign when Samuel Kalu’s ninth-minute cross deflected off the shoulder of Buhle Mkhwanazi and into Itumeleng Khune’s goal.
It was a poor start by Stuart Baxter’s manne, but they fought their way back and restored parity midway through the half.
A magical bit of skill from Man of the Match Percy Tau saw him turn inside two defenders and sprint into the area, before flousing the keeper and rolling the ball for Lebo Mothiba to tap into an empty net.
Nigeria enjoyed the better chances for the rest of the match.
And with seven minutes to play, Alex Iwobi released Ahmed Musa beyond SA’s defensive line, where the Nigerian skipper beat Khune.
Luckily for Bafana, the goal was chalked off for offside - wrongly.
CLOSE CALL: SA boss Baxter. Photo: ITUMELENG ENGLISH/INLSA
Baxter felt that his team weren’t at their best on the attack despite having plenty of the ball.
Returning playmaker Thulani Serero struggled to create and was withdrawn on the hour mark for Thembinkosi Lorch.
That attacking change didn’t make much of the difference and Baxter left options like Dino Ndlovu and Vincent Pule on the bench despite his team failing to break down the visitors.