Victor Osimhen scored twice and laid two assists as the Super Eagles rallied back from a goal down to beat their hosts Lesotho 4-2 in their 2021 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying fixture at the Setsoto Stadium, Maseru on Sunday, Completesports.com reports.
Lesotho, who failed to score a goal in their previous two outings against the Super Eagles, opened scoring through Nkoto Masoabi in the 11th minute.
Nkoto jumped above Semi Ajayi to hand the Crocodiles the lead.
The goal jolted the Super Eagles who carved out two quick opportunities through William Troost-Ekong and Samuel Chukuweze which didn’t yield any goal.
Tseka Lopano received the first caution of the game in the 24th minute after a late challenge on Moses Simon.
Alex Iwobi restored parity for Nigeria in the 28th minute after he was teed up by Osimhen.
Osimhen charged towards the Lesotho defense, collected a pass from midfield and laid it for Iwobi who slotted home.
A good Nigeria move involving Aribo and Ndidi on the half hour mark, but Moses Simon’s effort was kept out by Mtsane Lichaba in goal for Lesotho.
Simon came close to handing Nigeria the lead two minutes later but his effort was saved by Lichaba
Nigeria took the lead for the first time in the game in the 38th minute with Chukuweze nodding home Osimhen’s cross.
Osimhen came close to doubling Nigeria’s lead late in the first half but his effort missed target.
The Lille forward’s well taken shot hit the cross bar five minutes after the break, while Lichaba punched away his goal bound shot seven minutes later.
Ahmed Musa came in for Chukuweze in the 66th minute as the Super Eagles looked to score more goals.
Granada midfielder Ramon Azeez also took the place of Aribo in the 71st minute.
Osimhen got a goal his performance deserved when he poked home Ola Aina’s low cross in the 75th minute.
He got his second goal of the game six minutes from time. Substitute Azeez threaded a pass through for the forward who chipped it over the sprawling Lichaba.
Chidozie Awaziem who was lucky to escape a red card for a rash tackle earlier in the game mishit a cross into his own net a minute from time.
Benin Republic defeated Sierra Leone 1-0 in the other Group L game also on Sunday.
Super Eagles Line-up
Akpeyi – Awaziem, Ekong, Ajayi, Aina, Ndidi, Aribo (Azeez 71), Iwobi, Simon (Kalu 83) , Chukuweze (Musa 66) Osimhen
By Adeboye Amosu
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28 Comments
“The goal jolted the Super Eagles who carved out two quick opportunities through William Troost-Ekong and Samuel Chukuweze”
CSN nitori olohun…..lol
So Ekong got a goal…issorite
Bros
Understand the sentence nowwwwwwwwwww…carved two opportunities doesn’t mean Ekong scored …….
There as a free kick by ekong that was saved. That was the chance he was referring to
Receive understanding in the name of God you serve
I mistakenly clicked on the like button for this comment instead of unliking it. Bros! na wa for you oh! Na so English hard?
Good job. This team is begining to look like the 1994 set. I hope I am not getting carried away too early though.
Oshimhen’s performance is the highpoint for me. I am so happy for him. After many years of waiting, Rashidi Yekini (bless his soul) may have reincarnated at last.
Once again, I hope I am not getting carried away too early. Congratulations dear Super Eagles.
You are not getting carried away @Bomboy the team is a delight to watch. Playing under difficult circumstances like high attitude and unplayable pitch they still performed. We have a reliable goal poacher in osimhen. He worked for 2 goals including a missed chance by musa, hit the bar and scored 2 good goals. After the 2 friendly matches against Ukraine and Brazil I knew inside me that sooner than later this team will be difficult to beat. Recall they trained for only a day before Benin match they still grided out a result and won again to a motivated Lesotho team that played 1-1 away. This team is a serious contender for 2021 cup of nations and a potential quarter finalist in next world cup. All credits goes to Mr Rohr who gave us hope to dream again. May God be with him for his consistency and genuine interest to make history with our team. The whole team is gelling at the right time. The super eagles the only shinning national team at the moment. Is high time Rohr is giving the credit he deserved its not been so good for a long time now
Good talk @ ndubuisi. Just what continuity can bring to a team. God bless Gernot Rohr, God bless SE n God bless my beloved Nigeria. Forever proud to be a Nigerian.
*Given
You are not getting carried away, Osimen was by far the man of the match. Having his signature in all the goals. And always hungry for more. And could have easily got a hat trick of goals and assist.
Super Eagles is gradually becoming the power house it is meant to be. Aina and Azeez were also very good in their respective assist. It can only get better.
a very good game from the super eagles . CSN some of your reporting is not accurate e.g ‘Osimhen charged towards the Lesotho defense, collected a pass from midfield and laid it for Iwobi who slotted home.’ it’s not true, rather, Osimhen tackled a defender in the 18 yd box and collected the ball before laying a pass for Iwobi who slotted home. And also ‘Nigeria took the lead for the first time in the game in the 38th minute with Chukuweze nodding home Osimhen’s cross’. It was a chipped pass from Osimhen for Chukuweze to head home and not a cross. thanks
Ighalo himself would be relieved to know he has a worthy replacement in Osimhen.
This report wen CSN no see where do copyright, see mistakes and misleading infos…..na wa
This team is hot… Red hot… Just saw highlights on you tube and I was marvelled..
Next year so many top European side would be begging the super eagles for friendly games.. This shows the level of growth.. Rohn must be kept in charge he has done so well..
A player like oshimen is gold,, God bless amuneke for discovering this wonderful unlike the other corrupt one, but at some point a replacement would be needed and an onuachu is not the required level..
Not many is talking about azzez, and is like aribo isn’t yet acclimaized to the African game.. Iwobi did well today and what if he gets injured we would surely suffer.. Rohn should not rest ,,more work should be done.. Merry Christmas and happy new year in advance super eagles
Yeah. I agree with you. But Onouchu should be left in the team. When some teams are hard to beat long balls might be the plan B. When u play to Onouchu strength, he’s good as well. U watched him against van dike, he won all area duels against him
Great performance!!! Azeez is here to stay! We should search and find a reliable backup for great scoring osihmen, akpehi should be discarded abi how many times must we sing song about d jittery basket akpeyi? He even don’t trust himself pls just observe his face filled with fear! Watching akpeyi I almost fainted! Summary is this team is good and we shall need rohr to reinvent himself and upgrade and update himself with modern coaching tactics and studies. Otherwise we are perhaps doing fine.
With Azeez and Aribo, Etebo’s role is now clearly threatened. And i am excited about that!!!
Congratulations to our beloved team Super Eagles.
People don’t understand me but sooner or later, you all will understand me much better.
I said it all during this encounter with Lesotho match and the coach did all I said and we saw the result.
Many of you don’t understand this game. It’s all about planning. As a good coach, you need to have plan A, B and C.
Every day is not a Sallah day or New year day. Aribo wasn’t in today’s match and I noticed that coach Rohr saw that as well and he introduced Azeez and other substations the gaffer made during the match, I’m really impressed with this for the first time since he has started coaching the team
He got everything perfect.
I’m talking according to what
I saw in today’s match.
I won’t be carried away by comparing this team with 1994 class.
My point here is, the level of Lesotho in football is way below Nigeria level.
I am talking about today’s match. The coach and his team did well after the result changed to 2-1.
Tomorrow may be different because as a good fan of the team, I want the best for Nigeria. It is simple as that.
Akpeyi. Well, hmmmm…., Coach Agu and Oga Rohr must be questioned for the inclusion of the goalkeeper.
I’m really impressed with Lesotho performance. Local coach with his local team and playing against Nigeria like that, wow. They were fearless. This is what Super Eagles should learn how to do when they play against big teams.
They played total football but inexperienced and exposure was an issue concerning Lesotho team. That is why I’m hailing Amunike. He qualified to this year Afcon with inexperienced team.
We deserve more from this team because, we have what it takes to do more. No excuses.
I omo9ja will not refused to face the truth in front of our oppressors both NFF, the coach and his fans.
Let’s celebrate this win moderately but we shouldn’t be carried away. Ire o. God bless Nigeria!!!
Get f*”””””k outta here. Pls we don’t need ur “God bless Nigeria” phrase after writing ur senseless garbage epistles, we don’t need ur bad belle blessing. In fact, bcs of the kind of person u are, ur blessing Na curse, so, biko, hollam there! In fact , Rohr doesn’t need your commendations. Anuofia!
I keep wondering why Moses simeon is getting invited and even starting games, he adds little to the attack, why is Rohr not giving Dennis some minutes to prove himself, he is better than Simone or maybe try Dennis as no 10. Ejuke is another option to me as a winger better than Simone.
Simon moses is one of the experience players in the team. He offers a lot both in attacking and defending. Rohr will not drop him especially when he is doing so well at club level. Any other player be it ejuke or dennis can only be stand by players for now. I just hope that come next year we will have friendly games and invite players like ejuke, sadiq, cyriel so we can see if they have what it takes to be part of the team.
Congratulations to iwobi and chukwueze for their goals. Both players needed it for their confidence. As for Victor oshimeh, he will be a great player in no distant future earning big money and playing for the best clubs.
You’re right man ! I hope to see Ejuke, Dessers for the super eagles. Simon Moses is an experienced player so as long as he’s playing well at clubside, he’s ok for the national team. Lillie’s coach said that Oshimen is a combination of olden. And modern day strikers which is what we are seeing right now. He’s gonna be the greatest player in the world. Like Ronaldo , Messi, Ronaldo Lima,Zidane . .
It’s so sure he’s gonna be in the Spanish Liga, possibly Real Madrid because that is the club he said he wants to play for right fr under 17. That was what he says . Whwewvee he goes , I wish him success .
I wanna see Jim win world player of the year , African footballer of the year, Ballon for and the world cup as well as champions league. . And African nations cup….
Isn’t it funny how a legitimate center forward changes the feel of a team. That’s been the problem with us for years. Our so called number 9s weren’t ruthless, or precise or really willing to run the channels intelligently. The thing i really like about this guy is that he has the perfect balance between being selfish and being a playmaker for others. With his age and how he’s expected to get better and stronger, we have our next ace in the hole.
When you have a natural goal scorer who’s also a modern footballer, you can take your time to work on the other parts of your team and tune the machine such that it works around that goal scorer’s strength. We are getting there. The defense and concentration need work but one has to understand the true difficulty of the circumstance they faced today. That was a good result. Altitude and especially that crap artificial turf are no joke. Nigerian teams never play well on turf anyway since our true game requires the ball on the ground being moved around crisply.
Im excited. I just pray the Nigerian factor doesn’t mess things up.
Osimhen would be in Spain or England next year, Aribo might no be physical enough for African soccer, but with time he would get there, not a bad performance from the super Eagles, just need to work more on our defense
Who needs Tammy Abraham when we’ve got Victor Oshimen that is proud to wear the green-white-green jersey, and that has been with us since U-17 level and that we are not begging to come and play for us. I pray for you Oshimen, you will never know sorrow, as you have made me happy, God will make you happy, your career will continue to soar, very soon you will win balon d’or, FIFA the best and European best player
“….Two games have brought more than just six points for Nigeria. All over the pitch, the marginal gains are aggregating to produce, for the first time since the German took charge, a national team with a defined identity and a guiding set of convictions. One not even a diabolical playing surface, early deficits or refereeing uncertainty can gainsay…”
Above is a quote from one of the most unbiased and ethically balanced sportswriters I’ve come across in recent times, who writes for a globally renowned platform like goal.com.
But hatred-borne, psychologically frustrated fellas will come here and say Rohr has no tactical input into the team, no good display, no pattern etc.
If you still think this team has no identity, pls go and watch all highlights of matches we have played from the AFCON till now and see if there not a recurring model by which we carve defenses open and score our goals.
congratulations boys, for the victory in this international break and also a good performance from the team. one of the area we’v’been clamouring for in d team is this top 9 but thank that oshimen have been living up to expectations. bagging two and assisting two goals.
oshimen once u are ready to score don’t worry cos u gat loads of good wingers on both flanks.
since it is until August or September b4 d qualifier continues we should be hoping for more friendlies, I mean first or second class friendlies not with minnows.
once again good job from the super eagles.
Super Eagles..aya aya.. Those days we chant this song with joy are coming back again. Thank you GR for selecting this boys rightly. Oshimen, Chukwueze, Iwobi, KALU, ARIBO etc are the next big thing to happen in Africa.
For those saying ARIBO is not used to the African game yet, I just laugh at you guys cuz you just carry the yeye Naija mentality. ARIBO scored in his first two matches against Ukraine and Brazil and by so doing, Some Nigerian Fans expect him to be scoring in every match..lol. Is he a Striker?? He is a Complete Midfielder and if he scores in a match, is just a bonus to his overall play..Simple! Just bcuz he didn’t score against Benin and Lesotho now, some fans are rearing there ugly heads saying ‘He isn’t good enough for the African game”..Abeg make una no let that boy hear am o. Before we start discouraging him.
And that my fear for Victor Oshimen too. Nigerians are quick to Praise and Quick to Attack(negatively) instead of supporting there players all through Thick and Thin. A time will definitely come when Oshimen might be out-of-form or experiencing Goal drought or maybe he misses a goal for Nigeria! Gbam! that’s where you will see the real Nigerians. All these CSN comments am seeing now by then will turn to Epistles saying Oshimen=Out! Very bad! Well, I pray such time never comes.
With Akpeyi in Goal for Nigeria, even Sao Tome and Principle will score us. That guy is not a Super Eagle material..Simple! but like the Coach is not getting it. He might be a Club material not a National team material.
My own token.. Soar Eagles Soar