Ighalo’s hattrick, Kalu’s goal bury Libya 4-0 in Uyo
Super Eagles gave their hope of staging a comeback to the Africa Cup of Nations for the first time since 2013 a big boost after they outclassed the Mediterranean Knights of Libya 4-0 at the Godswill Akpabio Stadium, Uyo on Saturday.
It was a Group E tie in which the three times African champions needed an outright win to displace Libya after South Africa’s Bafana Bafana had beaten Seychelles 6-0 in Johannesburg earlier in the day.
The Eagles started on a brilliant note in the fourth minute with the opening goal through Odion Ighalo’s well taken penalty kick off an infringement he initiated.
Libyan goalkeeper brought Ighalo down in an attempt to correct the error he made and the Changchun Yatai attacker calmly scored from 12 yards.
Ighalo was in a class of his own and could have made it two goals in the 10th minute but he missed the golden chance with only the goalkeeper at his mercy.
It was a tough situation for the Eagles in the 18th minute when Shehu Abdullahi was substituted for Ola Aina owing to an injury he sustained earlier in the game.
The first half ended with the Eagles leading 1-0 through the effort of Ighalo but they soon made it goal number two and three through the China based hit-man in the 58th and 69th minutes through the assists of Alex Iwobi and Ahmed Musa. There was still room for the fourth goal through Samuel Kalu.
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Isaac Success and Henry Onyekuru came in as second half substitutes in place of hatrick hero, Ighalo and Musa in that order but Onyekuru missed a sitter with the goalkeeper to beat.
The win ensured that the Eagles moved to second spot in Group E with six points from three matches behind South Africa who are on seven points while Libya crashed to third with four points from as many matches.
The Mediterranean Knights will host the Eagles on Tuesday in Sfax, Tunisia in matchday four.