Super Eagles
FIFA World Cup Africa Qualifier: 1st leg of Ghana/Nigeria ‘Jollof derby’ ends in draw, other results
First leg of the FIFA World Cup Africa Qualifier between the Super Eagles of Nigeria and the Black Stars of Ghana, ended Friday night in a lackluster goalless draw.
The match dubbed; ‘Jollof derby’ was played at the Baba Yara Sports Stadium in Kumasi, Ghana.
The result means the second leg of the World Cup qualifier for the 2022 Qatar FIFA football tournament is all to play for in the quest for one of the five tickets for Africa.
The Super Eagles navigated through the group stages where they beat Cape Verde, Liberia, and the Central African Republic to reach the final stage of the qualifiers for the 2022 World Cup.
Nigeria and Ghana took a cautious approach to the match, however, despite having more possession, Ghana could not break Nigeria’s resilient defence.
What could have swung the tie in Nigeria’s favour occurred in 77th minute when Moroccan centre referee, Rédouane Jiyed pointed to the spot for a penalty award as Ghana defender fell on the ball inside his 18-yard box under pressure from two Super Eagles attackers as the Black Stars was caught in possession following a short pass from his goal keeper
However, after the referee’s attention was called by VAR, a check saw him overturning the decision to the chagrin of midfielder, Oghenekaro Etebo who was subsequently shown a yellow card for dissent.
Nigeria is now under pressure to secure victory as the second heads to the MKO Abiola Stadium in Abuja, on Tuesday, as the away goals rule applies in this qualification stage.
In other results played on Friday, Egypt won at home against visitors, Senegal; Mali lost at home to Tunisia by a lone goal, while DR Congo; Morocco played out a 1: 1 draw in Kinshasa; Cameroon also lost at home to Algeria by a lone goal.
The full results:
Ghana 0: Nigeria 0
Cameroun 0: Algeria 1
Egypt 1: Senegal 0
Mali 0: Tunisia 1
DR Congo 1: Morocco 1
