Fisayo Dele-Bashiru came off the bench to net a late winner as Nigeria claimed a narrow 1-0 victory over Libya in their Africa Cup of Nations matchday three qualifier.
Here are the major takeaways from the encounter.
Faced with an opponent 82 places below the Super Eagles on the FIFA ranking, Augustine Eguavoen decided to showcase his tactical flexibility.
The caretaker coach ditched the conservative formation he deployed against Benin and Rwanda last month and set the Eagles up in a more aggressive 4-3-3 formation.
While Eguavoen’s formation change could be lauded, his selection choices may come under scrutiny, though.
Against a Libyan team that came with a defend-first strategy, starting two defensive midfielders Wilfred Ndidi and Frank made the Super Eagles look lame going forward.
Raphael Onyedika and Dele-Bashiru are better passers of the ball and they would have worked better with Victor Boniface in attack.
Nigeria had the ball in the back of the net in the 83rd minute but the Malawian referee ruled it off for offside.
Lookman exchanged passes with Chukwueze and, on the return pass, the Atalanta man slotted the ball past the Libyan goalkeeper.
However, replays showed Lookman was not offside and the ref got the call wrong. In the absence of VAR, however, the error could not be corrected.
It would have been the game’s biggest talking point if Nigeria had not found a late winner.
After a number of below-par showing for club and country, Samuel Chukwueze was relegated to the substitute bench against Libya.
Moses Simon took Chukwueze’s spot in the starting lineup and showed the AC Milan winger how to play on the flanks.
Simon launched several of Nigeria’s attacks, he dribbled his markers with ease and delivered dangerous balls into the Libya box.
The FC Nantes man was Nigeria’s greatest threat in the encounter.
In the end, his excellent play was rewarded when he provided the assist for Fisayo Dele-Bashiru to stab the winning goal home.
For all his flair, fancy hair, and versatility on the pitch, Iwobi offers very little for the Super Eagles in the final third.
The Fulham star has only managed two assists in his last 32 games for Nigeria and had several chances to improve that tally against Libya.
However, he missed Nigeria’s best opportunities in either half and should have been hauled off the pitch earlier than when Raphael Onyedika replaced him in the 74th minute.
Ten minutes on the pitch and Dele-Bashiru showed Iwobi how a playmaker applies the finishing touches to a team move.
Victor Boniface is Nigeria’s second most valuable player after Galatasaray’s Victor Osimhen.
However, Boniface at Bayer Leverkusen is a different beast compared to the timid lad that turns out for the Super Eagles.
He looked slow, unimaginative, and uninspired in attack for Nigeria, making the Super Eagles miss Victor Osimhen against a laid-back Libyan defence that was there for the taking.
It is now nine games without a Super Eagles goal for Boniface, who may see his starting shirt taken by Taiwo Awoniyi on Tuesday.
This post was last modified on %s = human-readable time difference 7:03 am
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“…who may see his starting shirt taken by Awoniyi.”
Abeg which Awoniyi? The SE put up these shambolic performances back to back because we keep subbing them with equally lackluster players..
A very hungry Dessers and a very eager Akpom have been waiting on the flanks but chop I chop tactics have been our problem.
Who is Tanimu for crying out loud and why has he not got any play time if he deserves his spot in that team??
If Eguavoen doesn’t put his feet down and stop inviting Tanimu and other misfits who may have godfathers in the NFF set-up, and write his name in Gold with convincing performances while he has the chance, the same NFF people will do away with him just as easily as they appointed him.
His only life line is to consistently churn out good results against these below-average opponents in the qualifier series.
A word is enough for the wise.
Eguavoen is a tactically sound coach.
First, he gave Iwobi a very expressive role and we could feel the versatile and dynamic free flow of Iwobi in the attacking midfield.
Secondly, He shouldn't have started Frank Onyeka and Ndidi against a laid back Libyan team who defended all game. Dele Bashiru should have started the game, while Frank Onyeka stayed on the bench.
Thirdly, Taminu, Iheanacho, Chukwueze and even Awoniyi have no business being invited, when you have Cyriel Dessers, Chuba Akpom, Terem Moffi, Olisa Ndah and others eager to rep the team with top quality.
I immensely commend the great play by Bruno Onyeamachi, Moses Simon, Troost Eking and Ademola Lookman. We can always get better. Kudos to the Coaching crew!
Eguavoen is NOT a tactically sound coach! Enough of NFF trying to save money: NFF shld dole out good money and hire a technically sound tactician for a coach for this array of stars the nigerian team displays, to save on-watchers and fans heart-attacks. this wil bring befitting results for the nigerian side which in turn attracts sponsorships!
A technical and tactical coach will bring out the best in victor boniface (the style of play he shld adopt when playing in africa, hw to position himself for balls n kicks) and the style of play for the whole squad, esp when they face stubborn opponents.
why was VAR not employed for this nigeria vs libya encounter?
Kindly leave Awoniyi out of this conversation. As timid and unproductive as Boniface is presently, he will still perform better than Awoniyi who offers nothing to the team.
I think it's about time they freshen up the team too, invite hungrier players and stop inviting same old faces who end up not getting on the pitch or sometimes being played and can't offer anything. Lets try Akpom, Maja, or even Dessers in attack.
Tanimu(don't even know why he is invited),Iheanacho and even Chukwueze should step down for now pending when they pick form again. Enough said.
We have big problem to discuss not player to invite or not,how our Nfa was lazy.look at yesterday match if not because of onething d match would have been draw in our presence.Then our Fa don't know anything to do before d match allowing any fool. ref to officiate our matches both home and away rubbing us always,let them wake up
This is not the right time to try new players , we need to wait when there's fifa widow the nff will organise a word class friendly match to enable us access the performance of these players bf inviting them to the national team for serious matches.
we have to use finidi issue as a text case .