By Thompson ABISOLA
Two second half goals by Ahmed Musa returned a resurgent Super Eagles into contention in the 2018 FIFA World Cup Group D on Friday after a 2-0 win over Iceland.
In the match played at Volgograd, the Nigerian side whose position was bolstered by Argentina’s 0-3 loss to Croatia on Thursday lived up to expectations after a torrid first half.
The match watched by a crowd of 40, 904 had few scoring chances in the opening half, with the European team the dominant side.
Gylfi Sigurdsson had a free-kick tipped over the top by goalkeeper Francis Uzoho and a shot saved in the opening five minutes.
Just before the break, he also delivered a free-kick which offered a chance to Alfred Finnbogason to break the deadlock, but the opportunity was wasted.
But the Super Eagles returned for the second half a different side, and were soon on the score sheet when Victor Moses burst through on the right flank.
The Chelsea player’s lift was brought down by Ahmed Musa who wasted no time in whipping the ball past goalkeeper HannesHalldorsson in the 49th minute.
The Eagles were now the dominant side as they took charge of the game with good passes by Mikel Obi, Wilfred Ndidi and OghenekaroEtebo.
Flank runs by Moses and Musa, who was a substitute against Croatia, did little to make KelechiIheanacho more visible in the game, but they did help to keep Iceland in check.
In the 74th minute, Musa who was later picked as the Man-of-the-Match met the ball on the left side of the penalty area to surge past Kari Arnason.
He then rounded goalkeeper Halldorsson before lifting the ball past two defenders on the goal line for the second goal and to mark his return to the starting line-up.
Sigurdsson shot an 82nd minute penalty kick over the top of the bar, after a video review following an infringement by second half substitute TyronneEbuehi.
The loss denied Iceland a chance to try to force a late comeback as they charged at the Super Eagles who were now on the back foot.
TBI Africa reports that the result now means all three other teams in the group remain in contention to advance to the next round with Croatia.
However, while Nigeria need a draw against Argentina to go through on June 26, while Argentina and Iceland know they have to win to have any chance of progressing.
Argentina and Nigeria will play on June 26, St Petersburg while Croatia and Iceland will also play June 26, Rostov-on-Don
