Nigeria Super Eagles ended their winless deadlock against the Black Stars of Ghana with a 2-1 victory in Marrakesh, Morocco.
Goals from Atalanta winger Ademola Lookman and Rangers forward Cyril Dessers condemned the Blacks Stars to their first defeat against the Super Eagles since 2006.
It was a cracker as the two sides locked horns in what was a notorious regional but neighborly rivalry. Nigeria went into the game on the back of a sterling 2023 AFCON campaign. The Super Eagles ran out with a silver medal in the continental showpiece, finishing as runners-up to tournament hosts and eventual winners Ivory Coast.
Ghana, who were tipped to contest for the continental crown, were casualties of the shifting tectonic plates in African football.
They crashed out of the group stages of the competition after a winless run in the Group.
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Coming up against the Super Eagles in their first friendly after the AFCON deadlock was a good chance to atone and win back the confidence of the fans.
Away from their contrasting fortunes in the 2023 AFCON, Nigeria had long lost the bragging rights to the Ghanaians since 2006.
It has been over sixteen years since the Super Eagles had an edge over the Black Stars, hence the matchup in Marrakesh set the stage for the Eagles to test their recent resurgence against their more dominant neighbors.
Both sides started with good attacking prompts and a flair for a more controlled and possessive game.
Ghana were more dominant with the ball but were dealt a blow when they conceded a spot-kick in the 38th minute.
Rangers prolific forward Cyril Dessers made no mistake as he tucked the spot kick into the back of the net to give the Super Eagles the lead.
In the 56th minute, Ghana’s comeback hopes were dealt a heavy blow when they were down to 10 men with Opoku sent off.
In the 84th minute, Nigeria leveraged their numerical advantage to double the lead, thanks to Ademola Lookman’s goal.
Jordan Ayew scored late into stoppage time to halve the deficit and restore comeback hopes but they were out of time to level the score.
It ended 2-1 at the blast of the final whistle with the Super Eagles putting the 10-man Black Stars to the sword to end their sixteen-year winless deadlock.
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