Mozambique 0 Nigeria 2 : Lawal, Muhammad score wonder goals as Flying Eagles outclass Mambas 

Nigeria's U-20 national team, Flying Eagles on Saturday evening defeated the Mambas of Mozambique 2-0 to book their place in the quarterfinals stage of the 2023 CAF U-20 Africa Cup of Nations in Egypt. 

The seven-time African champions required a victory or a draw to be guaranteed a place in the 'last 8' after losing 1-0 to Senegal before bouncing back to claim a priceless 1-0 win over hosts, Egypt in their second group game. 

The Flying Eagles had a couple of decent chances to score in the first half but were profligate with Ayuba Abubakar the biggest culprit. 

The deadlock was however broken in the 33rd and in a spectacular way as midfielder Samson Lawal scored Nigeria's first goal of the evening with a fierce shot from the edge of the box. 

The lead was doubled four minutes before the break when Solomon Agbalaka intercepted the ball at the halfway line and passed the ball to Ibrahim Muhammad.

The forward let fly a wonderful curler which beat the Mozambique goalkeeper and sailed into the top right corner. 

Flying Eagles coach Ladan Bosso made a slew of changes in the second half, bringing in Emmanuel Uchegbu, Adams Alade, Jude Sunday, Abel Ogwuche and Ahmed Abdullahi.

Abdullahi who had a game to forget against Senegal and was red-carded in the team's first match of Group A, went close to scoring when the Mozambique goalkeeper misjudged the flight of the ball and spilled it onto the path of the striker. 

The KAA Gent starlet could not connect with the ball at the far end and a chance to extend the lead was agonizingly lost. 

Egypt and Mozambique finished the group with identical stats and both had same one point each with the top two West African sides a win away from qualifying for the 2023 FIFA U-20 World Cup in Indonesia. 

Izuchukwu Michael
 

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