Eagles in a hurry to march on
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BY BILL MILLS
NIGERIA cruised into the Africa Cup of Nations last 16 with a dominant win over Sudan.
Goals from Samuel Chukwueze and Taiwo Awoniyi followed by a second-half strike from Moses Simon did the damage at the Roumde Adjia Stadium.
Walieldin Khedr pulled a goal back from the penalty spot with 20 minutes left after a VAR check, but the result was never in doubt as the unbeaten Super Eagles secured safe passage out of Group D.
Chukwueze gave them the perfect start when he rifled home from close range after 134 seconds.
And they doubled their lead on the stroke of halftime when Awoniyi headed into the bottom-left corner from Kelechi Iheanacho’s free-kick.
Simon bagged a third less than a minute after the break, rifling into the bottom-left corner.
Sudan, the 1970 winners, looked lost in only their second match at the competition since returning after a decade.
Gumaa Omer shot wide from distance as they looked to cancel out the opener, Abdelrazig Omer had a powerful shot blocked on the edge of the box and Mohamed Al Rashed fired at Nigeria keeper Maduka Okoye.
At other end Wilfred Ndidi headed agonisingly wide of the left post from an Ola Aina cross.
His Leicester team-mate Iheanacho, who hit the winner in the 1-0 opening group victory over Egypt, picked out Awoniyi with a perfect pass, but his shot was charged down.
However Awoniyi made no mistake on the stroke of half-time and Simon finished the job with in clinical style.
Khedr reduced the arrears after Aina was penalised for pulling Mustafa Karshoum’s shirt.
Ivory Coast v Sierra Leone; Algeria v Equatorial Guinea; Gambia v Mali; Tunisia v Mauritania.