Chisom Chikatara came from the bench to score three times in Nigeria’s Group C match against Niger Republic in their first match of the 2016 African Nations Championship (CHAN) on Monday.
Advertisement
However, a minute after the interval at the Stade Régional Nyamirambo Stadium, Okoro Osadebamwen Moses broke Niger’s resistance, as Nigeria’s pressure finally told.
Niger threatened, attempting a comeback but Chisom Chikatara’s introduction in the 57th minute – replacing Tunde Adeniji- marked what will end up a spot on decision by the gaffer and a man of the match display for the 21-year-old.
Adebayor halved the deficit on 80 minutes after he let fly a left-foot strike.
The first of the night for Chikatara came in the 74th minute when he received a well floated pass from Okoro, the striker controlled the ball well before rifling it to the top corner of the net.
He later made up for his misses by slotting home the fourth goal in the 93rd minute.
With the emphatic win, Nigeria now sit top of their group with three points while Guinea and Tunisia have a point apiece having played out a 2-2 draw earlier.
Advertisement
Permission to use quotations from this article is granted subject to appropriate credit being given to www.theeagleonline.com.ng as the source.
