The Super Eagles recorded a back-to-back win in their second group game against Guinea, and have now secured a place in the Round of 16 of the ongoing 2019 African Cup of Nations in Egypt.
The Eagles are the first team to qualify for the second round of the competition after grabbing another 3 points from a 1-goal win against the Guineans on Wednesday, June 26.
Centre-back Kenneth Omeruo headed home the only goal of the match in the 73rd minute of the closely contested encounter to hand the Eagles the win.
There were some changes to the lineup of both teams as Guinea star, Naby Keita, started his first match, since being injured playing for Liverpool in a Champions League semi-final against Barcelona last month.
Also, Nigeria’s Samuel Kalu, who collapsed during training last Friday with severe dehydration, replaced Moses Simon into stoppage time.
Coach Gernot made five major changes, including dropping skipper John Obi Mikel, with Ahmed Musa wearing the armband.
The first half of the encounter was quite lackluster as both teams hardly made clear cut chances to hit the back of the net. However, into the second half the Eagles picked up the pace in a bid to secure their second straight win of the tournament.
A brilliant effort by Ahmed Musa was stopped as the Guineans tightened their defense line.
Peter Etebo stretched the Guinea goalie to his limit from a free-kick that the goalkeeper parried and a defender cleared in due time.
In the 71st minute Coach Put substituted Keita for Lass Bangoura, due to the Liverpool man’s health issues.
Two minutes after the change Omeruo found an opening and nodded a corner past Kone to secure Nigeria’s win.
The result leaves Guinea, who may be without ace player Keita for their final game, facing an uneasy wait for the results of Madagascar’s match against Burundi on Thursday, June 27.
Featured image source: Punch Newspapers