Nigeria beat Mozambique 4-0 in their Africa Cup of Nations last 16 encounter in Fez with two goals from Victor Osimhen and one each from Ademola Lookman and Akor Adams.
It was a truly dominant performance by the Super Eagles that could have resulted in an even more impressive score line with better finishing. This was a performance reminiscent of Nigeria in their all-conquering days of the mid to late 1990s.
Alex Iwobi delivered a masterclass that his uncle Jay Jay Okocha, from the 1990s Eagles, would have been proud of. His range of passing was just from another planet. After 20 minutes Iwobi found Adams in space and he laid it on for Lookman to finish.
Lookman played like a man possessed and five minutes later turned provider with a cross that was deflected by Adams on to the path of Osimhen who finished from close range.
At this point, the Mozambican game plan of containing Nigeria and playing on the break went out of the window. Another member of the 1990s version of the Super Eagles, Sunday Oliseh, was on commentary duties and must have been licking his lips about the demolition job that his countrymen had done on Mozambique as he reminisced with his fellow commentator about the old Mike Tyson saying – “everyone has a plan until they are hit in the mouth”.
The Mozambique plan must have been to score the next goal after the break, instead they got hit with a sucker punch a minute after the interval. Man of the Match Lookman again broke free on the left and squared for Osimhen’s second on the night, again from close range.
By this time, Nigerian fans would have been asking how many their team would score. Nigeria scored eight goals in the group stages to finish the first round with a maximum nine points. Their fourth on the night came with 15 minutes left and it was Lookman again with the assist for Adams to finish with a rocket that almost tore the net off.
A stronger test than Mozambique lies ahead in the quarters against either Algeria of the Democratic Republic of Congo, who knocked Nigeria out of the World Cup playoffs on penalties. But on this showing, Nigeria is looking the most impressive team in Morocco and they seem to haven’t yet gone into fourth gear.
Despite a few jittery moments from goalie Stanley Nwabali, coach Eric Chelle would be reassured by the steady performance of central defence pairing Calvin Bassey and Semi Ajayi and his team’s first clean sheet in seven matches.
