Nigeria picked up three points in their first game at the Africa U-23 Cup of Nations after beating a determined Malian side 3 - 2 in Mbour on Sunday night.<br /><br />The contest produced five goals with the first goal arriving in the 16th minute through Junior Ajayi, who latched on a cross before back-heeling under pressure.<br /><br />On 34 minutes, Usman Mohammed made it 2 - 0 in favour of the Dream Team when he hooked a low shot in after an assist by Sincere Seth.<br /><br />The game looked dead and buried as Junior Ajayi scored again just before the intermission to make it 3 - 0 after the Malian goalkeeper parried Okechukwu&rsquo;s shot into his path and the CS Sfaxien striker accepted the gift.<br /><br />However, Mali had other ideas and Niane gave the West Africans hope after he converted his penalty in the 54th minute after he was fouled by Oghenekaro Etebo.<br /><br />And the drama was far from over as Sissoko poked home after the NIgerian defense were caught napping.<br /><br />Mali had several scoring opportunities to draw level but wasted them .<br /><br />After matchday one in Group B, the Dream Team, who face Egypt next, lead the standings followed by Egypt and Algeria, who both have one point after playing out a 1 - 1 draw.<br /><br />