By Akinwale Kasali
A brace from Ademola Lookman was all the Super Eagles needed to book a place in the Quarter Finals at the ongoing African Cup of Nations championship in Côte d’ Ivoire.
The much anticipated match against the Indomitable Lions of Cameroon saw the Super Eagles dominating the entire duration of the match to record a 2-0 victory.
Coach Jose Peseiro had started the match with a 3-4-3 formation with Stanley Nwabali in goal, Oluwasemilogo Ajayi, Calvin Bassey and William Troost Ekong in the defence.
Ola Aina, Frank Onyeka, Alex Iwobi and Zaidu Sanusi in the midfield, while Moses Simon, Ademola Lookman and Victor Osimhen led the attack.
From the blast of the whistle, the Super Eagles took the game to Cameroonians with Oluwasemilogo Ajayi scoring from a corner kick but was ruled offside by the Video Assistant Referee.
The Nigeria side did not rest on their oars as they pushed further for the opening goal and this came in the 36th minute through Ademola Lookman with the assist coming from Victor Osimhen.
Every attack from Cameroon was curtailed by the Nigeria defence-line, who thwarted their moves.
The second half was not different from the first half as the Super Eagles started from where they stopped, shooting from every cylinder and forcing the Cameroon defence line to be cautious.
Goalkeeper, Stanley Nwabali also made some saves which led to his injury, as he was hit by Cameroon attacker, Karl Toko Ekambi, forcing him to be substituted.
Francis Uzoho replaced Nwabali with Coach Peseiro introduction of Kenneth Omeruo for Zaidu Sanusi.
Lookman got the much needed second goal following a counter attack initiated by Iwobi and assisted by Moses Simon.
With this victory, Nigeria Will face the Palancras Negras of Angola in the Quarterfinals.
Angola defeated the Brave Warriors of Namibia 3-0 and will face the three-time AFCON Champion, Nigeria.
