First half goals from Leon Balogun and Victor Osimehn were enough to hand the Super Eagles of Nigeria a 2-0 win over the
Les Fauves of Central African Republic in the match day 4 and second leg of the 2022 Qatar FIFA World Cup qualifier between the two countries, at the Japoma stadium, Douala, Cameroon.
Leon Balogun, on his fortieth cap for the Super Eagles, sprinted with pace into the far left of the Les Fauves box, beating the offside trap, connected with a well taking good long ball by Chidozie Awaziem, which flew over the Wild Beasts’ defense to slot home for the Super Eagles on the 29th minute of play to set the tune for the influx of goals in the match.
The Eagles surged on with series of chances to add to their lead, but couldn’t get pass their opponents’ resilient defense line.
The much needed security came on the 45th minute; Oladele Aribo from the edge of the box 18 set free a running Troost Ekong, who wasted no time to release a low cross in the Wild Beasts’ box, Napoli striker, Victor Osimehn found himself in a right position to add the team’s second with little stress to tap in the ball from 5 yards.
Joe Aribo on the 56th minute set up Victor Osimehn with a well calculated loop from the center circle, the former Lille forward beautifully beat the rushing goalkeeper with a top notch ball controll, drove into the box, goal bound, but failed to beat the line as Sadock Ndobe rushed to clear the ball off the line.
Meanwhile, Ahmed Musa joined the league of centurions in the Super Eagles as he led the team into the game, to make his 100th cap for the 3 times AFCON winners, now one short of Vincent Enyeama and Joseph Yobo, but made way for Chidera Ejuke on the 66th minutes.
CSKA Moscow’s forward, Chidera Ejuke put up a stellar performance in his 25 minutes of action as he tormented the
Les Fauves defense on countless occasions and coming close to scoring.
The Super Eagles with the win remain top of Group C of the Africa zone of the 2022 World Cup qualifiers with 9 points, 5 more then Cape Verde, who plays later today and Central African Republic.
Photos: Super Eagles Facebook page