The Super Eagles of Nigeria have entered the quarter-finals of the Africa Cup of Nations after beating the Indomitable Lions of Cameroon in the Round of 16 clash.
Ademola Lookman scored twice in both halves to sink the five-time African Champions at the Stade Félix Houphouët-Boigny on Saturday night.
Three of Cameroon’s five AFCON titles were at the expense of Nigeria, with the latest being in 2000, when the Central African nation won 4-3 on penalties shootout at the National Stadium in Lagos State.
Poised for revenge, the Nigerians took the game to the Cameroonians and thought they had netted a ninth minute before VAR ruled out Semi Ajayi’s goal for offside.
Lookman then found the back of the net in the 39th minute after an assist by Victor Osimhen who made most of the opportunity presented to him in the 46th minute after a mistake from the opposition defender.
This game is the eighth encounter between Nigeria and Cameroon at the Africa Cup of Nations. Notably, three of these previous meetings occurred in the tournament’s finals during 1984, 1988, and 2000 – with Cameroon emerging victorious in each instance.
Nigeria’s goalkeeper Nwabali was forced off in the 80th minute after suffering an injury in a collision with Cameroon’s N’Koudou.
However, the Super Eagles kept pushing and bagged a second when Lookman doubled the lead in the 90th minute to fire Nigeria into the last eight of the competition.
Nigeria will now face old foes Angola, who beat Namibia 3-0, in the quarter-finals on Friday for a place in the last four of the competition.
