Russia 2018 FIFA World Cup: Eagles crawl into group stage

BY JOE APU
TWO second half goals from the duo of Moses Simon and
defender Efe Ambrose finally settled the nerves of
Nigerians as the Super Eagles scaled the Swaziland hurdle
to secure a place in the final group stage that will see 20
countries battling for the final tickets of the Russia 2018
FIFA World Cup.
Nigeria advanced to the next round of the qualifying
tournament on a 2-0 aggregate having played out a
goalless draw with the Swazis in Lobamba last Friday.
It took 51 minutes for the uncoordinated Eagles to find the
back of the net through a well-taken free kick by Moses
Simon.
The second goal came courtesy of Celtic defender Efe
Ambrose who tapped in the ball from close range in the
87th minute.
Phumlami Dlamini of Swaziland was sent off in the closing
minutes of the match after a second booking.
As expected visiting Swaziland sat back in their defence,
but Nigeria failed to break their resistance in the first 45
minutes or were very poor in their finishing.
Skipper Ahmed Musa, Moses Simon and Watford striker
Odion Ighalo all had chances to calm the nerves of the big
crowd at the Adokiye Amiesemaka Stadium in Port
Harcourt, but they failed to do so.
After half an hour, Ighalo was clear of goal but his shot
with only the goalkeeper to beat screamed way off target.
Three minutes later, Swaziland came close to breaking the
dead- lock but Sandile Hlatwako, who scored a brace
against Djibouti in the previous round of the qualifiers,
ballooned his shot from deep inside the Nigeria box.
Ighalo was full of endeavor but ineffective and in the 72nd
minute, Moses Simon had a chance to get a brace but his
low shot from inside the box was firmly held by goalkeeper
Gwebu.
Swaziland kept the fight on and came very close in the
83rd minute, when Ikeme made his biggest save of the
day as he tipped away for a corner an audacious lob,
which was heading for goal.

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