Chris Maduewesi
Member
Nigeria survived a scare to defeat Mozambique 4-2 at the African Nations Championship(CHAN)securing its first victory at the competition.
A flurry of goals in the first 20 minutes opened the floodgates with both sides sharing two goals apiece in the opening stages of the encounter.
The homebased Eagles struggled to establish their foot-hold in the game lacking the coordination needed to be formidable.
Dario Khan opened the scores in the 10th minute from a wonderful free-kick that found its way into the net.
After getting accusing fingers pointed at him in the first game's defeat to Mali,Chigozie Agbim didn't help his case as he made costly errors that pegged Nigeria behind.
Ifeanyi Ede pulled one back for Nigeria almost immediately,capitalizing on the space afforded him in the far post to nick in the equaliser.
The goal seemed to have swung the momentum in favour of coach Stephen Keshi's team,who were flying then. Rabiu Ali made no mistakes from close range,smashing Nigeria into the lead in the 13th minute.
But Mozambique didn't capitulate rather they regrouped and found the equaliser.
Maninho played in a through ball to Diogo who levelled 2-2 for Mozambique.
However,both teams took their legs off the pedals after the initial frenetic opening 20 minutes to go into the break all squared.
Nigeria got out of jail in the second half,being lucky to have gotten a controversial penalty in their favour after a Mozambican defender was adjudged to have handled the ball in the box.
Rabiu Ali stepped up to dispatch the kick which gave Nigeria the 3-2 lead,his second goal of the game.
Gbolahan Salami came close to scoring a goal but his effort was cleared off the lines,but victory was secured when substitute Barnabas Imenger with a good finish scored the fourth goal,to secure the 4-2 victory.
Earlier on in the group,goals from Bernard Parker and Ibourahima Sidibe ensured that both South Africa and Mali played out a 1-1 draw.
Both Mali and South Africa have four points each,with Nigeria trailing them on three points.
The homebased Eagles will now have to beat South Africa in the final game of the group in order to qualify for the knock-out stages.
A flurry of goals in the first 20 minutes opened the floodgates with both sides sharing two goals apiece in the opening stages of the encounter.
The homebased Eagles struggled to establish their foot-hold in the game lacking the coordination needed to be formidable.
Dario Khan opened the scores in the 10th minute from a wonderful free-kick that found its way into the net.
After getting accusing fingers pointed at him in the first game's defeat to Mali,Chigozie Agbim didn't help his case as he made costly errors that pegged Nigeria behind.
Ifeanyi Ede pulled one back for Nigeria almost immediately,capitalizing on the space afforded him in the far post to nick in the equaliser.
The goal seemed to have swung the momentum in favour of coach Stephen Keshi's team,who were flying then. Rabiu Ali made no mistakes from close range,smashing Nigeria into the lead in the 13th minute.
But Mozambique didn't capitulate rather they regrouped and found the equaliser.
Maninho played in a through ball to Diogo who levelled 2-2 for Mozambique.
However,both teams took their legs off the pedals after the initial frenetic opening 20 minutes to go into the break all squared.
Nigeria got out of jail in the second half,being lucky to have gotten a controversial penalty in their favour after a Mozambican defender was adjudged to have handled the ball in the box.
Rabiu Ali stepped up to dispatch the kick which gave Nigeria the 3-2 lead,his second goal of the game.
Gbolahan Salami came close to scoring a goal but his effort was cleared off the lines,but victory was secured when substitute Barnabas Imenger with a good finish scored the fourth goal,to secure the 4-2 victory.
Earlier on in the group,goals from Bernard Parker and Ibourahima Sidibe ensured that both South Africa and Mali played out a 1-1 draw.
Both Mali and South Africa have four points each,with Nigeria trailing them on three points.
The homebased Eagles will now have to beat South Africa in the final game of the group in order to qualify for the knock-out stages.
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