After Celtic's fifth loss in seven games under his leadership, Wilfried Nancy brushed off ideas that Saturday's Old Firm game would decide his future.

Tuesday's match at Fir Park, called 'El Passico' due to both teams' open play styles, saw Motherwell outperform the Frenchman's team. Ibrahim Said and Elliot Watt scored on either side of halftime.

The 2-0 defeat, Celtic's 17th this year, meant Hearts stayed three points ahead in the league, while Rangers closed in, now just three points behind Nancy's squad after a 2-1 victory over St Mirren.

At the end of the game, visiting fans chanted for the board to be sacked, and some even demanded the manager's immediate dismissal. When asked if his first derby was a make-or-break moment, Nancy responded, No, not really. Every game matters to me and the team.

I'm not focused on my future. I'm focusing on what I'm doing now, what I need to do to help the team get better, and what we need to do as a team to improve. That's how I see it.

When asked if he understood the fans' deep worry about the lack of progress during his time, Nancy was indignant.

Progress? "There is progress," he insisted. But tonight, the situation and the opponent were tough.

This is a fact. Now, we need to figure out how to get better, and that's what we've been working on from the start. Tonight was rough. That's the truth.

When questioned about feeling the pressure after such a bad start as the champion's manager, Nancy added, As a manager, I don't want this, obviously.

Pressure doesn't change how I think. We know we have to perform well.

But right now, this is how it is. I knew it could be like this. We've had good games at times. Tonight was a hard one.

Regarding whether he was sure he could turn things around, Nancy said, Yes, I'm sure. I had to make some choices about the team tonight. I believe in what we're trying to do and where we're going. This was a hard game, difficult for us, but I think we'll improve.

Motherwell's manager, Jens Berthel Askou, praised his team, saying it was probably their best game of the season.

"We knew we'd probably need our best, most solid, and most complete performance, both with and without the ball, to win," he said.

We've had really big and good performances, but they haven't led to wins against Rangers or Celtic. So, that's what we got, and that's what we needed. It was amazing to see.

Coach Chelle switched things up for the Uganda game, resting some important players since their group standing was locked. Stanley Nwabali, Semi Ajayi, Wilfred Ndidi, and Ademola Lookman were all close to getting a one-game suspension, which they would have had to sit out of the next round since yellow cards are cleared after group play.

Victor Osimhen was in the same situation but still started for Nigeria, even captaining the team for 87 minutes in their 3-1 win against Uganda without getting a card.

A much-changed Nigeria team made sure they ended their time in Morocco with a perfect record. Paul Onuachu, the big ex-Southampton striker, slid in to score from Fisayo Dele-Bashiru's cross before halftime.

Raphael Onyedika, who plays midfield for Club Brugge, scored twice in five minutes in the second half to make the lead bigger, thanks to two assists from Samuel Chukwueze. Uganda's goalie, Salim Magoola, who came in at halftime for the injured captain Denis Onyango, got a red card for handling an Osimhen shot way outside the box.

Uganda did manage to get one goal back late in the game when Rogers Mato scored from a nice pass by Allan Okello with 15 minutes left. Still, it wasn't enough to stop the Cranes, who had lost to Tunisia 3-1 and drawn with Tanzania 1-1, from finishing last in the group and going home early with just one point.

In Rabat, Ismael Gharbi scored a penalty for Tunisia in the first half, but Feisal Salum evened it up for Tanzania after halftime. This 1-1 draw sent Tanzania to the AFCON knockout stage for the first time in their fourth try.

The Taifa Stars, who have never won a game in the competition, ended up with the same points and goal difference as Angola in Group B. They got the edge as one of the best third-place teams because they had scored one more goal.

Next, they will face the tough task of playing the host team, Morocco, in Rabat on Sunday night.

Tunisia, meanwhile, took second place in Group C behind Nigeria and will play Mali, who finished second in Group A, in Casablanca on Saturday night.

Who will Nigeria play in the AFCON last 16

Since Angola is out, Nigeria will play one of the third-place teams from Group F in the next round of AFCON, back at the Fez Stadium on Monday night (January 5).

It's probably going to be either Cameroon or Mozambique, who will play each other in Agadir on Wednesday night.

Mozambique is currently in third place after their big 3-2 win over Gabon on Sunday, one point ahead of Cameroon, though Cameroon's goal difference is one goal better.

The current champions, Ivory Coast, are leading Group F before their game against Gabon in Marrakesh, who are already out. It's still possible for them to end up in third place, but it doesn't look likely.

Mozambique will finish third if they draw with or lose to Cameroon, who were beaten 2-0 by Nigeria in the last 16.

If Nigeria wins their first knockout game, it could face Algeria, the 2019 winners, in the quarter-finals.