Julius OkorieBallon d Or nominee, Ademola Lookman, scored an added time goal to open the flood gate against Cheetahs of Benin at the Nest of Champions, Uyo on Saturday.
The Atalanta winger had missed a couple of chances going into the closing minutes of the first half but an impressive pass from Fulham star, Alex Iwobi, just before the end of the first half became a delicious meal for Lookman as he delivered with flourish to shoot the Eguavoen led side into the lead.
Join our WhatsApp ChannelEguavoen had started with Victor Boniface and Ademola Lookman and still had a star studded bench boasting of new Galatassaray man, Victor Osimhen, Taiwo Awoniyi, Kelechi Iheanacho and others.
The Eagles blew at least four chances in the course of the game that should have ended 5-0 in their favour.
In the second half, Eguavoen introduced Oliseh Ndah, Moses Simon and Dele Bashiru as the Benenoirs intensified attack bent on cancelling the Eagles loan goal lead.
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Eguavoen again introduced Victor Osimhen in the 72nd minute of the goal, pulling out Victor Boniface as the Cheetahs continued to mount pressure but he showed why he is called fantastic Osimhen as he scored the second goal for the Eagles just six minutes after stepping into the pitch.
Just when it was looking like the Eagles was going to settle for a 2-0 win, the combination of Moses Simon and Ademola Lookman thrilled again as Lookman made it a brace.
The bench and the starters in the encounter did a good job of the game. Bruno Onyemaechi was one man that turned heads in the course of the match, standing like the rock of Gibraltar, doing fantastic job in the left back.
With three goals and three points in the kitty, the Eagles will head to Kigali to face Amavubu of Rwanda at the Amahoro Stadium on Tuesday.
In other qualifiers played on Saturday, Mauritania beat Botswana 1-0 and Cameroon equally beat Namibia by a lone goal at Stade Omnisports Roumdé Adjia (Garoua).
Julius Okorie is Chief Sports and Entertainment Correspondent for Prime Business Africa. He began his journalism career with the Champion Newspaper and Sporting Champion and later moved on to Daily Independent and the Nation Newspapers. Okorie joined Prime Business Africa in 2024 bringing on board 20 years of experience in writing investigative news on Sports and Entertainment. His well researched and highly informative articles on Sports Business and general entertainment are followed by a wide range of audience.
