BEVERLY HILLS, March 27, (THEWILL) – The Super Eagles of Nigeria on Saturday ended the eight-year unbeaten record of the Squirrels of Benin Republic with a late Paul Onuachu goal sealing the game 0-1 for the neighbourimg visitors
The Squirrels had proven difficult to crack since a 2013 3-1 loss to Zambia in their Stade Charles de Gaulle, Porto-Novo grounds and they appeared to have the determination to hold on to that record in the Saturday match, especially their keeper, who seemed to have an answer for every Nigerian incursion into the Squirrels’ danger area.
Attempts by Nigerian forwards Victor Osimhen, Kelechi Iheanacho and Henry Onyekuru were rebuffed when they were on target or hit the bar. There was also the occasional off-targets shots in the second half as the Super Eagles increased the pressure to get a result.
Even defender Sanusi Zaidu overlapped and tried to shoot towards goal but blasted his shot high over the bar after Osimhen’s good work of rounding the keeper had ended up striking the upright and the ball fell mercifully to the defender.
The opportunities to open the scoring came and went for the visitors with Osimhen and Iheanacho particularly lively in the first half and for the earliest periods of the second. With the Super Eagles on the ascendancy in the second half, Gernot Rohr upped the ante by bringing in red hot Genk striker Paul Onuachu, in the 69th minute in place of Iheanacho, as Nigeria pressed for the goal that could decide the match.
The Squirrels’ defense held up courageously, clearing the lines of attack and what they missed the keeper picked up. Rohr introduced Anayo Iwuala for Onyekuru in the 80th minute, another attacking move for the goal Nigeria was in search of. It remained elusive until the match officials indicated that there was going to be three minutes of injury time to play before the end.
And, just as it appeared another draw was to be the Super Eagles’ fate and that the Béninoise team was going to keep their unbeaten streak for another day, Onuachu showed exactly why there was an outcry when he only made the standby team and why he was one of the hottest players in front of goal this season across Europe, in general, and Belgium, in particular.
Putting his height to his advantage, the Genk striker forced a header from a goal-mouth scramble from a Nigerian corner kick to score in the very last minute of extra time to give Nigeria all three points from the tie and a four-point lead on top of the group. With only one match left, Nigeria takes the group emphatically in the qualification series.
Onuachu also confirms his status as a goal machine, which will seal his first team position in the foreseeable future in Rohr’s selection going forward. In 31 appearances for club and country, he has managed 28 goals and 2 assists, which come up to a goal involvement every 82 mins. His first goal for Nigerian has sealed the country’s group leadership and perhaps his place in the starting lineup.
The Super Eagles next game against Lesotho at the Teslim Balogun Stadium in Lagos is now only a formality but the Nigerian team must play with purpose to continue to build great team dynamic demonstrated in Porto-Novo, while eyeing better FIFA ranking which build on great results in these kinds of matches. Therefore, no complacency must be embraced against Lesotho.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
