Nigeria have been left with no option but to win their remaining matches of the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers to stand a chance of defending their title in Morocco after the African champions were held to a goalless draw by South Africa in their Group A clash in Cape Town on Wednesday.
Congo defeated Sudan 2-0 in the other group fixture in Pointe Noire to climb to the top of the table with six points.
The Red Devils, who upset the Super Eagles 3-2 in Calabar on Saturday, are followed in the table by Bafana Bafana, who earned a valuable point from Wednesday's encounter to bag four points. The Eagles are third in the table, leaving Sudan, who were beaten 3-0 at home by South Africa on Friday, rooted to the bottom of the table.
South Africa started the match at a fast tempo forcing the Eagles to defend in the first 10 minutes.
Bafana created the first clear chance of the game in the sixth minute when Mandla Masango's cross from the right of the box was deflected into the path of Manyisa, who shot on target but saw his effort well blocked by Efe Ambrose.
The home team looked the more fluent of the two sides in attack, though lone striker Bongani Ndulula was often left a little isolated and struggled to have any influence on the game despite his admirable industry.
Nigeria created nothing more than half chances, the best of which fell to Nosa Igiebor in the 36th minute, only for the attacker to shoot off target under pressure from Bafana Bafana's defence.
However, in Ahmed Musa and Emmanuel Emenike, the Eagles had arguably the two most dangerous players on the pitch. However, they were denied good service from their midfield, mainly due to good work from the likes of Andile Jali and Dean Furman.
Bafana made a change at the start of the second half, with Tokelo Rantie replacing Ndulula up front in a straight swap. The England-based striker had to wait until just past the hour mark to have his first sight of goal, but then he only managed to hit the side netting from a tight angle.
Nigeria very nearly broke the deadlock with just 10 minutes to play when Musa's cross from the right found substitute Christian Osagona. He headed on target, but Erick Mathoho positioned himself brilliantly to clear off the goal line.
Tokelo Rantie then had the best chance of the match, using his pace to sprint in behind the Super Eagles' defence and find himself one-on-one with Austin Ejide, but the goalkeeper made a fine save to keep the score line blank.
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