Two goals from Odion Ighalo gave the Super Eagles of Nigeria a 3-2 win over the Mediterranean knights of Libya in a Group E AFCON qualifiers at the Stade Taieb Mhiri, Sfax, Tunisia on Tuesday.
Ighalo continued from where he left off three days ago, taking advantage of the high line of the Libyan defense to tap in from close range after Alex Iwobi had fed Ahmed Musa down the left flank.
Within the space of three minutes, Ighalo was the player that turned provider this time around as he laid the ball to Musa, who slalomed past the Libyan defense before slotting the ball past Ahmed Azzaqeh.
In an attempt to get back into the game, the Libyans poured men forward, creating plenty of opportunities which caused a lot of panic in the Nigerian defense.
Mohamed Zaebiaa came the closest to reducing the deficit for the North Africans, but he saw his first time shot saved by Francis Uzoho in the near post.
It however didn’t take long for the Libyans to pull one goal back as Zaebiaa, who was lurking on the far post fed off from a headed ball to slot the ball into the net with his head.
The Libyan’s came out all guns blazing in the second half looking for the second goal, and they came close in the 54th minute when Mohammed Abdulsalam’s belter form 25 yards was fisted away by Francis Uzoho.
After so much pressure on the Nigerian defense, the team was rewarded with a goal in the 74th minute when Ahmed Ben Ali close range shot beat Uzoho in his far post.
Nigeria’s coach, Gernot Rohr brought in the duo of John Ogu and Henry Onyekuru to help change the fortune of the side, but it was Ighalo who feigned a shot inside the box before cooling slotting the ball into the net.
Nigeria now moves to the top of Group E with nine points, after the South Africans were held by Seychelles to a goalless draw earlier in the day. The team next game comes up on the 16th of November against South Africa.
