2023 AFCON: Super Eagles Nick Ticket, Beat Sierra Leone 3-2

• Osimhen makes it 17th goal for Super Eagles
• Iheanacho’s late strike secures victory for Nigeria 

BY VICTOR OSOWOCHI – A stoppage-time tap-in by Kelechi Iheanacho won Nigeria’s Super Eagles their qualifying ticket for the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) with one game to spare in the Group A of the competition.

Tagged TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations, the tournament scheduled to hold between 13 January and 11 February 2024 will be the 34th edition of the biennial African football carnival organized by CAF with Ivory Coast as the host nation. The Ivorians will be hosting the championship for the second time having first hosted it in 1984.

On Sunday evening, the three-time African champions booked their ticket for the continental competition after narrowly overcoming Sierra Leone 3-2 at the Samuel Kanyon Doe Stadium in Monrovia, Liberia.

In the match that saw Coach Jose Peseiro featuring the attacking trio of in-form Victor Osimhen, Samuel Chukwueze, and Moses Simon, Iheanacho’s late goal proved decisive after the Eagles shoddily surrendered a two-goal lead.

While preferring the paring of Kenneth Omeruo and Semilore Ajayi in the defence, Coach Peseiro kept Willam Troost-Ekong on the bench as the Eagles showed promise in the early minutes of the game with the Leone Stars’ keeper, Ibrahim Sesay brilliantly parrying Osimhen’s early header to safety.

It was the turn of Chukwueze to fire high and wide a few minutes later from the edge of the box and the Villareal winger followed up with a huge miss after Osimhen disposed an opposing Leone Stars defender to set him face-to-face with Sesay.

Expectedly, the Super Eagles were rewarded for their early pressure when Osimhen pounced on a long ball to release a perfect lob that saw a stranded Sesay watching helplessly as the ball romanced his empty net.

The in-form Napoli striker doubled the lead in the 32nd minute after he was sent through on goal by a cute pass by Joe Aribo. Despite seeming to be a weak strike, Sesay could not stop the ball from resting in his net the second time. Being Osimhen’s 17th goal for the national team, he has now moved past Ahmed Musa and Odion Ighalo to sixth place on the list of Super Eagles’ all-time goals scorers.

However, taking their feet off the pedal, the Nigerians were punished for their just before halftime. Mustapha Bundu’s shot was too powerful and quick for the Eagles’ keeper, Adebayo Adeleye. From then on, it was the Sierra Leonians pulling the strings in search of an equalizer that eventually came in the 84th minute when Augustus Kargbo’s strike from the edge of the box gave Keeper Adeleye no chance at all.

With many football fans already looking towards a stalemate as the minutes ran down, Saidu Sanusi produced a moment of brilliance, dribbling past the Leone Stars’ defence line to set up Iheanacho who enjoyed a simple tap-in for the Super Eagles’ 3-2 victory on the night.

The Eagles are currently the Group A leaders with 12 points from five matches. They are followed by Guinea-Bissau with 10 points and Sierra Leone in third position with five points with Sao Tome staying bottom of the group with just one point and an embarrassing minus (-)17 goals difference.

Nigeria’s final match in the Group will come up in September when they play host to bottom-placed Sao Tome.