QAFCON U20 Ivory Coast 1 Nigeria 2: Kparobo Arierhi's second half winner sends Flying Eagles to semifinals

The Flying Eagles defeated Ivory Coast 2-1 in their second group game of the WAFU B U20 Championship played at the Municipal Stadium in Lome on Thursday evening.

Coach Aliyu Zubairu made two changes to the team that started the opening game against Burkina Faso.

Nathaniel Nwosu dropped to the bench and was replaced by Sporting Lagos goalkeeper Ebenezer Harcourt while Sabiu Ibrahim replaced Raphael Oyebanji in the middle of the park.

It was a slow start to the game as both sides struggled to create goal-scoring opportunities.

A throwing from Kenneth Igboke presented an opportunity for the Flying Eagles to grab the opener, but the resultant header couldn't hit the target.

The Ivorians quickly responded with a chance of theirs when a cross was delivered into the penalty area, only for the opportunity to go wasted as Harcourt easily gathered the ball.

In the 27th minute, Kparobo Arierhi  was incidentally put through on goal after the Ivorians had lost the ball, and he quickly attempted to find the back of the net, but his attempt was parried away by the goalkeeper.

The closest Nigeria came to scoring was at the stroke of halftime when Bidemi Amole received the ball in a dangerous position and hit his effort on the woodwork.

Two minutes after the hour mark, Ivory Coast opened the scoring through Christ Ivan Alex Wawa after an beautiful exchange of passes that started from their penalty area and they easily carved Nigeria open.

The Ivorians' lead didn't last long as Clinton Jephta restored parity for the Flying Eagles with a moment of brilliance from inside the penalty box.

Kparobo Arierhi then gave Nigeria the lead through a nice header, and his strike proved enough to hand Nigeria the maximum points and secure their place in the semifinal.

Abdulkareem Abdulhamid

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