Nigeria beat defending champions Cameroon 3-2 to enter AFCON quarters
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E-mail Xinhua, July 7, 2019
CAIRO, July 6 (Xinhua) -- Nigeria made it through the last eight of the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) after beating defending champions Cameroon 3-2 in Egypt's Alexandria on Saturday.
Odion Ighalo struck twice with Alex Iwobi scoring the winner after Cameroon had raced from a goal down to lead 2-1 courtesy of goals from Stephen Bahoken and Clinton Njie.
What started as a slow hands back approach from both rivals ended in dramatic fashion with the defending champions scoring two quick goals in five minutes to complete their first half comeback.
Nigeria scored their first goal after 19 minutes when Ighalo's shot from inside the box was deflected beyond Andre Onana after Omeruo laid in a cross into the area from the right.
Bahoken drew Cameroon level in the 40th minute when he tapped in simply from a yard out after Nigerian keeper Daniel kpayi failed to pick out a Christian Bassogog cross from the left.
Three minutes later, Cameroon were 2-1 up when Njie latched on to a long ball from skipper Eric Choupo-Moting before beating Kenneth Omeruo for power and finishing with a strong low effort from inside the box.
Just before equalizing, Cameroon had shouts for a penalty when Nigeria struggled to defend a Choupo-Moting drop back ball inside the box.
Nigeria sought to give an immediate response after going 2-1 down and Moses Simon's shot from inside the box off an Ahmed Musa cross was deflected over for a corner that went to waste.
In the second half, Nigeria tore a piece off Cameroon's script, responding with two goals in three minutes to re-take the lead.
Ighalo completed his brace in the 62nd minute beating the offside trap and sweeping the ball past Onana after Musa had done well to chest down Collins Awaziem's cross from the right.
Three minutes later, Iwobi scored what would turn out to be the winner when Cameroon were caught off possession. Ighalo swept the ball through to the Arsenal forward who finished calmly past Onana.
Cameroon tried to turn the game back in their favor with Seedorf bringing in Karl Toko Ekambi for Njie.
As the clock ticked, Rohr resorted to guard his win bringing off match winner Iwobi for defender Leon Balogun as the Super Eagles nervously held on for the win. Enditem
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