QAFCONU20 Nigeria 0 Burkina Faso 1: Flying Eagles lose opener to young Stallions

The Flying Eagles opened the defence of their WAFU B U20 Championship with a 1-0 defeat to Burkina Faso at the Municipal Stadium on Friday evening.

Early on in the game,  Kparobo Arierhi was put through on goal, but he disappointedly failed to hit the target before Burkina Faso went to the other end to force Nathaniel Nwosu to a save.

In the 22nd minute, Nwosu made another save to deny the young Stallions from taking the lead, calmly grasping a free-kick floated into his area.

Four minutes later, Burkina Faso got another chance to open the scoring when a cross was floated into the area, but the resultant header drifted wide.

Having darted forward, Kenneth Igboke received a pass in a promising position and drifted into the penalty box before firing his shot wide.

Nwosu had to be alert yet again in the 33rd minute, parrying a shot from close range to keep the match scoreless.

A few minutes after the restart, Nasiru Salihu made an ambitious attempt from a long way out, but his effort was far from hitting the target.

The Young Stallions opened the scoring in the 66th minute through Coulibaly Dramane, who fired the ball after Nigerian failed to clear a set piece.

Dramane's strike would prove to be the difference between the two sides as the defending champions couldn't muster any clear attempt at goal until the end of the game.

Nigeria will  next face Ivory Coast in their next group game and have to prevent losing to stand a chance of qualifying for the next round.

Abdulkareem Abdulhamid

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