Oliseh records first win as Eagles beat Niger in Port Harcourt

Super Eagles Coach Sunday Oliseh on Tuesday recorded his first win with the national team as the Nigerian national team beat their Nigerien counterparts 2-0 in an international friendly match at the Adokie Amasiemaka Stadium in Port Harcourt.

A goal each in the first and second half from Captain Ahmed Musa and substitute Moses Simon was all that was required for the Eagles to secure a win over the hard-fighting Menas who were keen to save face after losing to Burundi 2-0 over the weekend.

Following the backlash that trailed the barren outing in Dar Es Salam over the weekend, Oliseh was quite aware that only a win at the Adokie Amasiemaka Stadium will somewhat appease the impatient Nigeria fans. This perhaps explained the re-jigged starting lineup put out by Oliseh which however retained top performers, Carl Ikeme, Kenneth Omeruo, Solomon Kwambe and Ahmed Musa for the Niger clash. Expectedly, the Eagles took the fight to the visitors and after 12 minutes of action, their efforts paid off when Anthony Ujah was brought down in the box and a penalty kick was rightly awarded to Nigeria. It was captain Musa who took up the responsibility and even though it was not the best of kicks, the power behind the shot from the CSKA Moscow forward made sure it rested inside the net to give Nigeria a crucial lead.

Playing a rather physical game, the Nigerien team got themselves booked twice in the first half even as Nigeria pressed on to increase their tally. Musa, who scored the first goal for Nigeria thought he had scored the second when he was gifted a free pass off a poor defensive clearance by a Nigerien defender, but having buried the ball in the net, the Nigerian captain was adjudged to be offside. Nigeria could only take the slim advantage into the second half which saw some changes by Oliseh, who brought in the likes of Emmanuel Emenike, Moses Simon, and Ikechukuwu Ezenwa. While Emenike did find the back of the net, he was again wrongly adjudged to be in an offside position as also corroborated by television replays. The disallowed goal meant Emenike’s 22-month goal drought continues but there was something to cheer when Moses Simon sealed victory for Nigeria with a decent finish five minutes to the end of the game after benefiting from a defensive error by the Nigeriens.