Nigeria rise to see of sudan

 The joyous crowd that flooded the Abuja National Stadium on Wednesday reflected the collective sigh of a relief felt by a nation as the Super Eagles finally won their first game of the 2015 African Cup of Nations qualifiers.

The first half of the game ended 0-0 and there were visible palpitations on the face of the fans in the stands but three minutes after the break, the Eagles had their first goal of the game. Ahmed Musa side-footed a great finish from a John Mikel Obi assist with an assured calmess.

Sudan levelled score in the 55th minute through Salah Nimir from a quick attack on the Eagles defence as the back four was caught napping.

Aaron Samuel made it 2-1 sweeping home a cross from the outside right. Stephen Keshi brought on Sone Aluko in place of Raheem Lawal and the addition of the Hull City forwad injected pace and energy in the Eagles’ attack.

The impact of Mikel Obi was great in the game. He drove forward with surging runs especially in the second half and would have even scored in the first half after his chest control and half volley on a swivel was saved.

Ahmed Musa scored Nigeria’s third goal of the game in the 89th minute. The forward who had a man-of-the-match display, initially lost the ball but with a stroke of luck, recovered it from a sloppy Sudanese defender, dribbled another and shot to the bottom left corner though the Sudan keeper had a hand on the ball. He was however substituted on the dot of 90th minute by Ighodaro Osaguona

The Eagles are now third in Group A with 4 points after Match Day 4. The Eagles’ next games in November are against Congo and South Africa on November 15 and 19 respectively.