Ademola Lookman says there is no bad blood between him and Victor Osimhen following their confrontation during Nigeria’s 4-0 victory over Mozambique on Monday night, SportPremi reports.
Both players were involved in a heated exchange during the second half, with Osimhen expressing his anger after his promising run was ignored.
The Galatasaray striker was later substituted by Eric Chelle in the 68th minute, with Moses Simon coming on in his place.
The Super Eagles eased to a dominant 4-0 win over the Mambas to progress to the quarterfinals in Morocco.
Nigeria rout Mozambique to reach AFCON last eight
The Super Eagles headed into the clash with a 100% record so far, while Mozambique won only one of their three group matches and qualified in third place.
Osimhen had the ball in the back of the net after only two minutes, but the strike was correctly ruled out for offside.
Lookman then opened the scoring later in the game after superb work by Alex Iwobi and Akor Adams in the buildup, before Osimhen added a second minutes later.
The talisman grabbed his second of the game and 34th for Nigeria in the second half, placing him just three behind Rashidi Yekini in the country’s all-time goalscoring chart.
Adams completed the scoring with a fourth late in the game as the Super Eagles completed an emphatic win to reach the last eight in Morocco.
Both Lookman and Osimhen also moved to three goals for the tournament, behind Morocco’s Brahim Diaz who leads the Golden boot race with four goals.
Lookman reacts to Osimhen’s confrontation
Ademola Lookman delivered another outstanding performance to take his tally at the tournament to three goals and four assists for Nigeria.
While speaking after the match, he cooled tension on the incident that occurred on the pitch, praising his teammate’s passion.
“I haven’t seen him yet. Nothing happened, just a discussion on the pitch. There is no big issue”, the Atalanta forward revealed.
“It’s been great, the team is improving with every game. We scored four goals today, which is a positive sign for us. I get the opportunity to represent my country, and I know how much that means. So I try to channel that pressure and stay in good form,” he added.
“The quarterfinals of the AFCON is something to look forward to. Another big battle awaits us and we need to be ready for the fight. Just the same mentality from the team. The same mentality to be on the front foot.”
Nigeria will face either Algeria or DR Congo in the last eight at the ongoing African Cup of Nations tournament next Saturday in Marrakesh.
