NELSPRUIT, South Africa — Champion Zambia saved itself from defeat and possible elimination from the African Nations Cup when goalkeeper Kennedy Mweene scored an 85th minute penalty to give it a 1-1 draw with Nigeria at the Mbombela Stadium Friday. Earlier, Nigeria had become the fourth successive team in the Finals to miss a penalty against Zambia when John Obi Mikel struck the post with a 25th-minute spotkick before Nigeria took the lead in the Group C heavyweight clash in the 57th minute. The goal came when Emmanuel Emineke collected a ball from Mikel and created space for himself to fire low past Mweene for his second goal of the competition. The open, attacking match on a rock-hard pitch was the third successive 1-1 draw in the group and left Zambia and Nigeria with two points from their opening two matches. For the Zambians this clash had represented the chance to avenge defeats to Nigeria in Angola in 2010 and in the 1994 final, the last of Nigeria's two titles. In the late Thursday match Niger and Democratic Republic of Congo battled to a goalless stalemate in an evenly-fought Group B match Thursday which did neither team any favors in their quest to reach the quarterfinals of the African Nations Cup. Although Niger secured its first ever point in the Finals after losing all three games in 2012 and its opening match here, the result at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium left Ghana top after two matches with four points, followed by Mali (3), DR Congo (2) and Niger (1). Ghana faces Niger in their final group game in Port Elizabeth Monday, while the Congolese face Mali in Durban. Saturday matches: Ivory Coast vs. Tunisia and Algeria vs. Togo. — Agencies
