Victor Osimhen’s brace against Sierra Leone seals AFCON spot for Nigeria
Sierra Leone hosted Nigeria in the 5th game of the AFCON Qualifiers in Monrovia, Liberia. Super Eagles of Nigeria breezed past the Leone Stars in a 2- 3 scoreline to seal their 2024 African Cup of Nations Qualifiers with a game left.
Nigeria top their group with 12 points following their triumph over Sierra Leone, all thanks to Osimhen’s brace
First half:
Just 14 minutes into the game, Osimhen made a dangerous attempt from Simon Moses crossing, but the Leone star shot stopper punched the goal out from danger. Surely, Victor Osimhen was too much for Sierra Leone as the Napoli Talisman scored a brace in the 19th and 32nd minutes of the first half to put Super Eagles ahead. Sierra Leone pulled one back to reduce the goals deficit to 2-1 at first half.
Second Half:
Sierra Leone were spirited in the second half equalizing the second goal in the 83rd minute. Nigeria at those last minutes were overplayed by Leone Stars and many Nigerians have blamed the poor feat in the second half on inexperienced changes made by the manager. Fortunately, for Nigeria, Victoria Osimhen’s powerful drive during the 90+5 minutes located Kelechi Iheanacho who scored Nigerias winner.
Nigeria’s AFCON 2024 participation in Ivory Coast has been confirmed after the win. Nigeria tops their group with 12 points and is now 2 points ahead of Guinea Bissau.
Nigeria will qualify for the 2026 World Cup if they win their last group game regardless of the outcome of Guinea Bissau’s game.
