Yesterday, at the Grand Stade de Marrakech, the Super Eagles of Nigeria defeated Algeria 2-0 to secure a spot in the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations semifinals.
According to Channels TV, Nigeria’s unrelenting pressure and clinical second-half finishing defeated the Desert Foxes, who had only let in one goal all tournament before to the quarterfinal.
As a result, they will face off against the tournament hosts, Morocco, in an exciting semi-final match.
Both of Nigeria’s goals came in a dominant second half performance, as they cruised to a 2-0 victory over Algeria.
After a strong header by Victor Osimhen put the game away in the 47th minute, Akor Adams scored the game-winning goal with a calm right-footed finish in the 57th minute.
Victor Osimhen, a Nigerian, rose to his typical heights two minutes after the restart to power home a signature header from Bruno Onyemaechi’s exquisite cross, breaking the tie.
This was Osimhen’s fourth goal in the competition.
A flawlessly executed team play by the Super Eagles doubled their advantage ten minutes later.
Akor Adams composedly dribbled past goalkeeper Luca Zidane and into an unoccupied net after receiving a beautiful outside-of-the-boot pass from Alex Iwobi, who had previously split the Algerian defense with a brilliant pass. Osimhen had selflessly squared the ball across goal.
Prior to the goals, Nigeria had already established themselves as the dominant team.
Algerian defender Ramy Bensebaini made a number of key saves on the goal line to ensure that the score remained tied at halftime, despite their dominance in possession, pace, and scoring possibilities in the first half.
Despite making adjustments in the second half, including bringing on Baghdad Bounedjah, Algeria still failed to establish themselves and did not manage to score a goal.
Adams later hit the post and other opportunities went narrowly wide as Nigeria persisted in posing a danger.
Midfielder Alex Iwobi was a master orchestrator, and Calvin Bassey was a rock for the defence.
Although Wilfred Ndidi’s yellow card might cause some anxiety in the run-up to the semi-final, Nigeria’s defense held firm to the finish. Moses Simon and other late substitutes helped comfortably manage the final phases.
Nigeria advances to the semi-finals with the win, setting up a thrilling matchup with hosts Morocco.
Thanks to their blistering offense and skyrocketing self-assurance, the Super Eagles appear to be in a strong position to challenge for a fourth continental championship.
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