Victor Moses converted two late penalties to give Nigeria a 2-0 win over Ethiopia on Tuesday and a quarter-final against Ivory Coast on Sunday at the Africa Cup of Nations.
The Chelsea forward scored the first past Sisay Bancha after 80 minutes and the second past the midfielder Addis Hintsa who had to go in goal after the keeper was sent off for bringing down Moses in the penalty area.
Ethiopia had already used all three substitutes in their final Group C match and finished with 10 men for the second time in the competition after their keeper Jemal Tassew was also dismissed in their opening match with Zambia.
The high drama at the end of the game at the Royal Bafokeng Sports Palace was in sharp contrast to what had gone before. Both teams had a chance of qualifying for the last eight but in the first half neither played with much urgency.
Nigeria began to exert their superiority over Ethiopia in the closing stages against the lowest-ranked country here although they rarely looked convincing.
The Super Eagles dominated for most of the match but had little to show for their 13 first-half goal attempts as most of the efforts carried no threat. Ethiopia, whose coach, Sewnet Bishaw, made eight changes from the side defeated 4-0 by Burkina Faso, were even less inspiring and barely troubled the Nigeria goalkeeper Vincent Enyeama.
The game became more stretched as it went on and in the end Nigeria were deserved winners as Moses kept his cool from the spot, having to hold his nerve while Hintsa took a long time to find a goalkeeper's jersey that did not clash with the rest of his team.
The defeat meant Ethiopia finished at the bottom of the group and they were eliminated from the tournament along with Zambia who drew 0-0 with Burkina Faso.
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