Nigeria and Galatasaray forward, Victor Osimhen continued his impressive goal scoring run with a superb headed goal for the Super Eagles in their 1-1 draw against Cheetahs of Benin Republic on Thursday night.
The match which took place in Abidjan, Ivory Coast was a dead rubber for the Super Eagles who had secured their place in Morocco 2025 after Libya defeated Rwanda 1-0 in Kigali earlier in the day.
That result however did not stop both sides from going for the win as former Super Eagles coach Gernot Rohr attempted to secure another memorable win over his former side and secure their own place in the next AFCON tournament.
The Super Eagles also showed their intention to win the match as they started the match with a star-studded line-up that had the likes of Victor Osimhen, Ademola Lookman and Kelechi Iheanacho leading the attack.
However, it was Benin Republic who took the lead in the 16th minute of the match when Tijani Mohamed scored past goalkeeper Stanley Nwabali who was in goal for Nigeria. Tijani’s goal was assisted by Olaitan Junior.
The Super Eagles worked very hard to get back on level terms and largely dominated possession but could not provide the needed firepower and finishing touches needed to breach the Cheetah’s defense.
They had to toil until the 81st minute of the match before Victor Osimhen headed home a cross supplied by FC Nantes forward, Moses Simon to level proceedings for the Super Eagles.
The match however ended without any more goals which gave the Super Eagles an unassailable lead at the top of pile in Group D. They can no longer be caught by any of Benin Republic, Rwanda and Libya even if they lose their last group match.
The result means that the Super Eagles have secured their in the 2025 , Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco even with one round of matches to be played.
Meanwhile, in other AFCON qualifier matches, Senegal defeated Burkina Faso 1-0 in Bamako, Niger thrashed Sudan 4-0 in Lome, Tunisia defeated Madagascar 3-2 in Johannesburg, South Sudan defeated Congo 3-2 in Juba while Algeria played a barren draw against Equatorial Guinea in Malabo.
