The Super Eagles of Nigeria has set their race to the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations on a steady movement after defeating the Mediterranean Knights of Libya 4-0 at the Godswill Akpabio Stadium, Uyo.
Odion Ighalo wrote his name in gold after scoring three goals , his first hat-trick in the Nigerian colours, before Samuel Kalu scored a beautiful goal to wrap up the game.
The match began straightaway in favour of the Super Eagle as Libyan goalkeeper Mohamed Abdulla fouled Ighalo, who was making his way to scoring, two minutes into the match. The FC Changchun Yatai striker stepped up to convert the awarded penalty, giving Nigeria a very early lead.
Ighalo sought for another penalty in the ninth minute when he fell inside the penalty area of the Libyans after a slight contact with the goalkeeper, but referee Jean-Jacques Ndala waves aside all appeals.
The Nigerians missed many goal scoring chances, leading to the end of the first, and waited for thirteen minutes in the second, before getting their second goal. Alex Iwobi delivered a pass to Ighalo who maintained his composure to dribble the goalkeeper and score his second goal for Nigeria.
Ighalo completed his hat trick ten minutes later after connecting to a cross from Ahmed Musa, found scrabbled the ball past the Libyan defenders and the goalkeeper.
With two minutes to the end of the match, Samuel Kalu got a pass from Henry Onyekuru who had just missed an opportunity to score, and he curled a shot outside the 18-yard box past Mohamed Abdalla.
Libya, whose coach, Adel Amrouche suddenly resigned leading to the battle against Nigeria, leaving Omar Al-Marime to take over, will host Nigeria on Tuesday in Sfax, Tunisia. They now sit third in the group with four points, as against Nigeria in second place with six points after three matches.
