A goal-mouth scramble and several ball watching defenders helped Ethiopia take a first half lead against Nigeria in the first leg of their Paris 2024 Olympic Games football qualifying match.

Ethiopia shot ahead in the 6th minute, stunning the former African champions under the heavy downpour at the Abebe Bikila Stadium in Addis Ababa.

The hosts were the better side for the best part of a quarter-and-half hour, but they couldn’t add to their lead.

Nigeria went close to leveling up the score before the close of the half, but some gilt edge misses and wayward efforts didn’t help their cause.

Meanwhile, the Super Falcons are without head coach Randy Waldrum for the first leg, his deputies Justice Madugu and Ann Chiejine were in charge.