World Cup Qualifiers: Osimhen double hands Eric Chelle an impressive debut win

Nigeria revives World Cup hopes with a 2-0 win over Rwanda in Kigali, as Victor Osimhen’s brace secures Eric Chelle’s debut victory as head coach.

 

Victor Osimhen celebrates after powering Nigeria in front at the Amahoro Stadium in Rwanda on Friday in a World Cup qualifier. Nigeria won 2-0. (Photo credit: Pulse)

The Super Eagles of Nigeria rose to the occasion at the Amahoro Stadium in Kigali on Friday to beat their hosts, the Amavubi of Rwanda to revive their World Cup qualifiers campaign.

The Nigeria side has endured a torrid qualifying campaign so far, drawing three times and losing to Benin Republic in their opening four games under two separate coaches, leaving the Super Eagles second from bottom in a seemingly easy group.

Malian Eric Chelle was appointed earlier in the year, a news that was greeted with mixed feelings in the Nigerian media but the result the new manager posted in his debut game would go a long way in winning loyalists to his side.

It didn’t take long for the Super Eagles to register their intent in Rwanda; a perfect free kick, well lifted by reigning African footballer of the year Ademola Lookman was volleyed home by Galatasaray striker Victor Osimhen as early as the 11^th minute.

From there on, you could sense the energy in the Nigerian side, passes stuck better than we’ve ever seen in the last one year and control was not a problem, leaving the hosts defending for the best part of the first half. After the half hour mark, Rwanda grew into the game but they couldn’t do anything with possession.

The Nigerian defense did a good job with goalkeeper Stanley Nwabali on holiday but, the hosts started to threaten as the half wore on. Just when it looked like the Super Eagles were trying to hang on till the halftime break, the Galatasaray man struck again.

The Rwandans sent everything forward in search of an equalizer before the break but they were badly hit on the counter; Samuel Chukwueze headed the ball out to the path of Osimhen and despite being second favorite to the ball, Osimhen nicked it off the Rwandan defender and raced down to lob the keeper.

It proved to be a sucker punch as Rwanda lost all the energy from there. The game went into management mode as Nigeria preferred to pass the ball around as the second half ended without a real highlight outside the debut for Genk striker Tolu Arokodare.

The win lifted Nigeria to just within one point of Rwanda in fourth and four points off South Africa at the summit. The Bafana-Bafana beat Lesotho 2-0 to remain at the top and the Super Eagles’ next game will be at home on Tuesday against Zimbabwe.