Nigeria flew over the Squirrels of Benin Republic on Thursday to book a place in the final of the WAFU Cup competition ongoing in Ghana.
The home-based Super Èagles defeated the Beninese 1-0 in the first semi-final of the sub-regional competition at the Cape Coast Stadium, Cape Coast. Rabiu Ali’s goal in the 11th minute was all Nigeria needed to put the Squirrels to the sword yesterday.
Benin had to play with ten men for 57 minutes following the expulsion of Marcellin Koukpo in the 33rd minute. The midfielder had bagged the first yellow card in the 19th minute and his second booking following a foul on Ariwachukwu Emmanuel 14 minutes later reduced his side to 10 men.
Nigeria almost doubled the lead with four minutes left, but Gabriel Okechukwu’s effort was cleared just on the goal line by captain Salomon Junior. Okechukwu, who came on for Ali just a minute before then, had displaced goalkeeper Steve Glodjinon before the clearance by Junior.
The home-based Eagles had earlier wrested a 2018 CHAN ticket from Benin Republic with a 2-1 goals aggregate over two legs in August. The Championship of African Nations will be hosted by Kenya next January.
Nigeria will now face Ghana in the final of the WAFU Cup on Sunday. The Black Stars defeated their Nigerien counterparts 2-0 in the second semi-final played later on Thursday.
Earlier Nigeria had beaten the hosts 2-0 in a group match played on Monday.
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