Monday evening.
A treble from substitute Chisom Chikatara plus Osas
Okoro’s goal were all Sunday Oliseh’s men needed to power past François Zahoui’s side who got their consolation courtesy Victorien Adebayor at the Stade Régional Nyamirambo, Kigali.
After a scoreless first half, both teams came out strong in
the last 45 minutes with five well taken goals in the highly
entertaining encounter.
The Super Eagles dominated possession from kick off but
failed try any attempt at goalkeeper Alhassane Alzouma
Moussa, with Prince Aggreh occasionally caught in the
Mena’s offside trap.
Coach Oliseh was forced to make an early change when he
replaced Alimi Jamiu, who had been cautioned by the
referee with Kalu Okogbue.
Niger Republic intermittently threatened the Eagles’ backline with Halidou Idrissa and Moussaa Issa forcing goalkeeper Ikechukwu Ezenwa to make fine saves.
After 31 minutes, Tunde Adeniji had a chance to put Nigeria
ahead but his attempt went wide. On the stroke of half time, Shefu Musa forced Ezenwa to another cool catch.
On resumption of the second half, Okoro gave his side the
lead after a fine pass from Adeniji inside the Menas’ penalty
area. The Enugu Rangers wasted no time before placing the
ball in the far right of the post that gave goalkeeper Moussa
no chance.
This awakened Zahoui’s side who attacked the Nigerian
backline in their number in search of an equalizer. Chikatara who replaced misfiring Adeniji doubled the lead with Okoro providing the assist.
And while it seems Oliseh’s side were home and dry with ten minutes left in the game, Adebayor gave his team a lifeline with a volley that left goalkeeper Ezenwa stunned, but two more goals from Abia Warrior’s Chikatara gave the Super Eagles a convincing win in Kigali.
With this result, Nigeria top Group C with three points and
will face Tunisia who were forced to a 2-2 draw by Guinea
on Friday.
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