Nigeria eased into the last eight at the ongoing African Cup of Nations tournament in Morocco after recording an emphatic 4-0 win over Mozambique in their Round of 16 clash on Monday night.
The Super Eagles won all three of their group stage matches and were favourites heading into the clash against the Mambas, who finished third in their own group and were playing in the knockout rounds for the first time in their history.
Eric Chelle reverted to his preferred lineup after resting several players in the win over Uganda in their final group game.
Ademola Lookman opened the floodgates with a deft strike in the first half, before Victor Osimhen added a second to give them a two-goal lead at halftime.
Osimhen doubled his tally minutes after the restart and Akor Adams added gloss on the win with a fourth late on in the game as Nigeria marched on into the quarterfinals.
In this article, SportPremi highlights five major observations from the dominant victory;
1. Nigeria finally keep a clean sheet
The major talking point in the buildup to this clash was the team’s lack of clean sheet and ability to comfortably see off matches.
However, they showed signs of improvement with an assured defensive performance to record their first clean sheet of the tournament.
Although Mozambique did not offer much of a threat, the Super Eagles will take confidence in the win ahead of tougher games to come.
2. Lookman continues to shine on the big stage
Ademola Lookman scored once and provided two assists for Nigeria in the win over Mozambique to take his tally to three goals and four assists so far at the tournament.
The Atalanta forward took his overall tally to six goals and five assists in just 10 matches at the tournament and continued to prove his worth on the big stage once again for the Super Eagles.
Depending on Nigeria’s run in Morocco, the 28-year-old is an early contender for the player of the tournament award.
3. Iwobi the main orchestrator
Alex Iwobi has been one of the most impressive players so far in Morocco and the midfielder pulled the strings once again with another standout performance.
The Fulham playmaker was unlucky not to get an assist to his name, but produced a wonderful defence splitting pass that the iconic Kevin De Bruyne would have been proud of, for the first goal to Akor Adams, who then assisted Lookman.
The 29-year-old then gave a majestic no-look pass to Lookman in the buildup to Nigeria’s second goal, showcasing his importance to the team once again.
4. Osimhen’s anger overshadows Nigeria win
Victor Osimhen scored twice in the win, but his confrontation in the second half with Lookman overshadowed the performance.
The striker scored Nigeria’s second and third goal of the clash, but his anger at his teammates before a corner kick in the second half was a major talking point after the clash.
He confronted Lookman and appeared to utter some angry words after his promising run on goal was ignored by the Atalanta forward who went for goal himself.
Eric Chelle downplayed the incident after the match, but the head coach has a lot of work to do in instilling calm and discipline into the side.
5. Adams open AFCON account
Akor Adams scored on his debut for Nigeria, but it took him four matches to score his first at the African Cup of Nations.
The striker was very impressive on the night, providing two assists before getting his deserved goal with the Super Eagles fourth of the game.
