The three-time AFCON winners claimed their 13th win over the Indomitable Lions in all competition to book their spot in the last-8 of the continental championship
Ademola Lookman was the hero as Nigeria secured a thrilling 2-0 victory over Cameroon to advance to the quarterfinals of the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, Soccernet.ng reports.
Lookman bagged a brilliant brace – his first-ever at the AFCON – to propel Nigeria to their third victory in Cote d’Ivoire.
Victor Osimhen was excellent, assisting the crucial opener, while Alex Iwobi and Frank Onyeka contributed immensely to the win.
Nigeria’s solid defence, though, will receive a lot of applause as the Super Eagles kept a clean sheet against Cameroon for the first time in AFCON history.
How it happened
Head coach Jose Peseiro returned to the starting lineup he deployed in the victory against Cote d’Ivoire, with Alex Iwobi, William Troost-Ekong, Moses Simon, and Zaidu Sanusi getting the nod from kickoff.
It helped the Super Eagles players show better understanding among themselves, and Nigeria should have opened the scoring with minutes into the encounter.
Semi Ajayi actually had the ball in the back of the net off a goalmouth scramble, but Nigeria’s celebration was cut short as VAR cancelled the goal for offside.
The Super Eagles, however, took the lead when it appeared like the team had taken its foot off the gas.
Osimhen, having caught the Cameroonian defence napping, stole the ball off Jean-Charles Castelletto before setting up Lookman, who made no mistake with his first-time finish.
Second half
Despite holding a slim advantage, Nigeria came out of the dressing room smoking hot and could have doubled their advantage had a close-range Lookman free-kick found the top corner.
Nigeria continued to do a great job of keeping the Indomitable Lions away from their penalty area while staying dangerous on the other end.
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Osimhen came close to scoring, but Cameroon cleared the ball on the line, and shortly after, Iwobi fired wide from an acute angle.
On the stroke of regulation time, Lookman eventually made sure of the win for Nigeria.
A quick exchange of passes between Lookman, Iwobi, and Calvin Bassey ended with the Atalanta man side-footing the ball past Ondoa into the net for Nigeria’s second goal.
What next?
Nigeria, with the win, have progressed to the quarterfinals of the AFCON for the first time since 2019.
The Super Eagles will next face Angola after the Palancras Negras defeated Namibia 3-0 in their round-of-16 clash.
