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France 2018: Ajibade’s goal sends Falconets to Q/finals

Falconets

The Super Falconets of Nigeria had the last smile of the crunch encounter with China on Monday despite the opponents early lead.

Th Falconets got a stoppage-time goal from captain Rasheedat Ajibade to earn a highly dramatic 1-1 draw to advance to the quarter-finals of the ongoing FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup France 2018 from Group D.

China PR were the more dangerous side in the first half at the Stade du Clos Gastel. Mengyu Shen had the first chance of the match in the 25th minute when she hit the Nigeria crossbar. A few minutes later, captain Linlin Wang headed over the target from close range.

China PR’s breakthrough came four minutes before half-time, as the diminutive Linyan Zhang turned her Nigerian marker in the box and stroked the ball past a diving Chiamaka Nnadozie to give the Asians the lead at the break.

The Super Falconets pushed hard to find an equaliser in the second half, but found the China PR backline and goalkeeper Huan Xu in resilient form until the end of the contest.

Ajibade became Nigeria’s hero when she converted Aishat Bello’s cross at the near post. The goal sparked celebrations from the West Africans at the full-time whistle. Nigeria will now face Spain in the round of 8.

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