*Raphael Onyedika, with the Man of the Match award.

Eagles

By Shareef Ibala (www.crestnewsonline.ng)

Paul Onuachu’s strike and a brace by midfielder Raphael Onyedika lifted a remarkably different Nigeria to beating Uganda 3-1 in their final Group C encounter at the ongoing Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) finals in Morocco on Tuesday.

Onuachu, starting ahead of Akor Adams following several changes to the squad which beat Tanzania and Tunisia in earlier games, connected perfectly with a pass from the left by Fisayo Dele-Bashiru in the 28^th minute to give Nigeria the lead.

This wasonly two minutes after veteran goalkeeper Denis Onyango had stopped a point-blank effort by the Trabzonspor of Turkey forward.

Before then, Nigeria had dominated play extensively, and as early as the
ninth minute, Samuel Chukwueze’s shot came off the defensive wall after good work by Moses Simon.

A teasing pull-out by Chukwueze in the 25^th minute narrowly missed the head of Onuachu.

Simon himself came close with four minutes left in the first period, as his shot came off the wall after the Eagles poured forward in numbers once more.

In the second half, Rogers Mato came close to connecting with a good cross but missed.

Nigeria regrouped and sustained the pressure on their opponents, who had won four of their previous eight encounters before Tuesday evening’s match in Fès.

Wing-back Bruno Onyemaechi side-netted in the 51^st minute, and six minutes later, goalkeeper Salim Omar, who had come in for the injured Onyango, was sent off.

This was after he handled the ball outside his penalty box as Victor Osimhen, Nigeria’s stand-in-captain, loomed towards goal.

Midfielder Raphael Onyedika, playing his first game at this AFCON and later voted the game’s Man of the Match, scored Nigeria’s second goal in the 62^nd minute after he connected well with a pass by Chukwueze.

Chukwueze and Onyedika recreated a similar process four minutes later, leading to the latter, who plays his club football in Belgium, scoring his second and Nigeria’s third.

In the 70^th minute, Onuachu’s header was a little too high, and five minutes later, Mato scored at the other end as Uganda finished well from a brilliant team move.

Victory gave the Eagles the maximum nine points from their three matches, and they will now certainly meet the third-placed team in Group F, with both third-placed finishers in Groups A (Comoros) and B (Angola) already eliminated.

This could be any of Cote d’Ivoire’s Elephants who beat them 2-1 to win the title about two years ago at home, Cameroon’s Indomitable Lions or the Mambas of Mozambique.

That match will come up on January 5 in Fès.

Meanwhile, in the group’s other final match, Tanzania’s gutsy 1-1 draw with Tunisia saw the Taifa Stars reach the knockout stage for the first time in their history.

They will play host nation Morocco in the Round of 16.

(www.crestnewsonline.ng)