Nigeria dominated Senegal during Friday’s Africa Women’s Cup of Nations qualifier in Dakar but had to settle for a point after both sides played to a 1-1 draw.
Substitute Woju Chioma opened the scoring for the Super Falcons on the stroke of half time but the hosts equalised in the 52nd minute.
Nigeria started brightly and Desire Oparanozie benefited from a defensive error in the third minute, but instead of firing in he tried to square the ball and the chance was gone.
Barely two minutes later, former African Women Player of the Year Asisat Oshoala made a run down the right, but this time his cross was too strong.
The Falcons continued to dominate for long spells, but could not find the breakthrough as the hosts rarely threatened the reigning African queens.
Things got bad for Florence Omagbemi’s side as Oparanozie was changed in the 30th minute owing to injury, though that seemed to be a blessing in disguise as substitute Woju broke the deadlock on the stroke of half time.
In the second half, Senegal grew in confidence and snatched the equaliser seven minutes after restart.
But the Falcons could not find a winner in the final minutes, and the spoils were shared, meaning that Nigeria hold a slim advantage ahead the return leg billed for Nigeria on Tuesday.
Winner on aggregate will qualify for the 2016 African Women Championship in Cameroon later this year.