Nigeria needed 85 minutes to convince stubborn Ghana that they were the better side on Monday following Tiye Taiwo's free kick into the net caught the Black Stars' defence napping in a hard fought Group D match of the 25th Africa Cup of Nations tournament played in Port Said, Egypt.

Both teams had several scoring chances, but their marksmen failed to find the shot that counted the most -- until, that is, in the 85th minute when a free kick passed laterally to Taiwo finally made the difference.

Senegal and Zimbabwe face each other in a second Group D match later in the day in Port Said.

The action on Tuesday will see Libya take on Cote d'Ivoire and hosts Egypt facing Morocco in Group A matches to be played in Cairo.