Super Eagles Coach Salisu Yusuf made changes to the side that won against Sierra Leone on Monday - bringing in the duo of Ubong Friday and Gabriel Okechukwu at the expense of Samuel Mathias and Anthony Okpotu.

Mali put the Nigerian defence under pressure early on, with dynamic duo Mandala Konte and Moussa Kone asking questions of the Super Eagles back-line, but failed to breakdown a well-organized defensive unit.

Meanwhile, Rabiu Ali thought he had given Nigeria the lead, only to see his effort ruled out for offside.

On the balance of play, Malians were slightly the better team in the first-half, as Kone constantly pressured Stephen Eze, but the big central defender was always alert to the impending danger from the forward.

Nigeria came out much-improved after the interval, with Okechukwu and Ubong causing all manner of problems for the Malian defence, but the final delivery often let them down.

Then, Against the run of play, Kone and Konte both missed glorious chances within a minute of each other to put Mali ahead.

Kone eventually got the better of Eze in the 68th minute, skipping past the FC Ifeanyi Ubah defender but failed to fire past goalkeeper Ikechukwu Ezenwa.

Konte went a step further a minute later, going round Ezenwa but saw his effort cleared off the line by Afeez Aremu's header.

The Super Eagles upped their game in the closing stages of the match as they tried to snatch a late winner through long range efforts from Peter Eneji and Aremu, but goalkeeper Diarra was equal to the task on both occasions.

The result leaves both teams with the worry of potential must-win games against Group B leaders Ghana, as Nigeria are placed third in the group ahead of Saturday's game against Guinea, while second-placed Mali face the hosts the same day.