Kelechi Iheanacho’s two goals have helped three-time African champions Super Eagles defeat Liberia in the World Cup qualifier.
Gatekeepers News reports that Super Eagles have started their qualifying campaign with a commanding victory over Liberia in Lagos on Friday.
Leicester City forward Kelechi Iheanacho’s effort guided Nigeria to a 2-0 victory over Liberia at the Teslim Balogun Stadium in their opening fixture in the 2022 Fifa World Cup qualifiers in Lagos on Friday.
Iheanacho’s brace took his international tally to 11 goals as he closes in on Jay-Jay Okocha and Julius Aghahowa’s mark of 14 goals in the national team colours.
Gernot Rohr’s men who started the encounter on a stronger foot had the most attempts on goal and greater possession which paid off with two goals in the first 45 minutes.
Joe Aribo nearly broke the deadlock in the opening 20 minutes but his effort lacked the power to threaten goalkeeper Ashley Williams.
The Super Eagles kept pushing for an early goal till they got it in the 23rd minute after Alex Iwobi sent out a corner-kick which Iheanacho maximised to move past Williams.
Although the Liberians tried responding to this through a free-kick from captain Allen Njie, it was brilliantly saved by Sparta Rotterdam goalkeeper Maduka Okoye. The Lone Star skipper was handed the first yellow card after a clumsy challenge on Iheanacho.
Iwobi converted a long throw-in from Jamilu Collins to head the ball down for Iheanacho who put the ball past the helpless Williams to double the lead for the Eagles on the stroke of half-time.
Although the Leicester City star had the chance to grab his hat-trick his header was wide off the target.
Nigeria continued their dominance but couldn’t go past goalkeeper Williams for a third score till the end of the game.
Iheanacho was voted as the Man of the Match while Iwobi claimed one million naira as the Most Valuable Player.
The victory pushed Nigeria to the top of the Group C table with three points ahead of their counterparts Cape Verde and Central African Republic who played out a 1-1 draw on Wednesday.
The three-time African champions will head to Cape Verde for their second group match on September 7 while Liberia face Central African Republic on Monday.
