1' Game on...Nigeria from Left to Right6' Both teams need to settle down. The game is untidy.8' The Lions have started to apply their press and and are playing higher.9' Nice lob but cleared by Nigeria.13' What a miss by Quadi...point blank into Agbim's chest.All action in the Eagles half so far.15' Nigeria breaks through but wastes their first incursion.18' Nadir with a nice one handed save...23' Nigeria misses a goal mouth scramble. 0-0 against Morocco. 23 minutes played. CAF President Isa Hayatou among the few guests at the stadium.28′ played. Morocco misses a goal opportunity as short goes wide.
32' GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAL MOHSINE MOUTAOUALI
33' Morocco take the lead as they capitalise on an error from Ali as he gets robbed in the centre of the park by El Ouadi who raids forward and then slides a through ball to Moutouali down the right and when inside the box, he chips the oncoming Agbim and his effort finds the net. A lovely finish from the winger.34' CHANCE! Nigeria have the chance to get an equaliser immediately as Ede gets the ball in space on the edge of the box, he manages to turn Oulhaj and make room for a shot, but he fires his effort just over the bar. That was a real chance for a leveller there, he could come to rue that miss.36' That might come sooner than Ede thinks as Iajour is fouled right on the edge of the box by Kunle. That presents a golden opportunity for Morocco if they can test Agbim from 20 yards out.37' GOAL! Morocco 2-0 Nigeria (Iajour)
40' Morocco get their third goal of the game and that should seal their place in the semi-finals of the competition. After praising the Nigeria defence not so long ago, it's hard not to criticise them now, as they are cut open down the left with a long ball over the top for Iajour, he thread the ball to El Ouadi, who lays it back to Moutouali to strike on the edge of the area and his low drive finds the bottom corner leaving Agbim no chance.
42' What a complete meltdown from Nigeria in the past 10 minutes. Ever since that mistake from Ali handed Morocco the lead they've folded. Morocco smelt blood and have taken control of this match and should be through to the semi finals of the competition, as Nigeria look lifeless.44' Morocco seem comfortable to take the foot of the gas at the end of the half as they are just knocking the ball around at the back with ease, with no pressure on the ball from Nigeria.45' There will be two minutes of added time.
45' + 2' HALF-TIME: Morocco 3-0 Nigeria
Morocco should be advancing into the last four of the competition if they can see out the last 45 minutes of the game, as their 10 minute spell just before the break handed them a three-goal advantage as they showed a clinical edge in front of goal with a brace from Moutouali and a strike from Iajour. Nigeria completely imploded after mistake from Ali handed Morocco their first and after that it was all downhill.
Nigeria have it all to do after the break, but they did have a couple of chances as Ede missed a glorious opportunity after Morocco's first to get his side level. So they will take hope out of that, but their finishing will need to be deadly accurate to stand a chance.
46' We're back underway in this quarter final clash.49' GOAL! Morocco 3-1 Nigeria (Uzochukwu)
49' There's hope for Nigeria! They get a goal back immediately in the second half as they move the ball around the edge of the box, before it goes back to Uzochukwu who decides to strike the ball from about 30 yards out and his effort is well struck and finds the corner of the net beating Lamyaghri. An excellent finish but his side still need two more of them to get back in this game.52' Nigeria win a free kick down the left as Uzoenyi is caught late by Oulhaj and that will give them an excellent chance to threaten again.53' The ball is delivered deep by Uzoenyi to the back post where he finds the run of Kunle but the ball is just too high for the defender to make good contact with it and his header goes up rather than at goal and Lamyaghri makes a comfortable claim.
56' GOAL! Morocco 3-2 Nigeria (Ali)
56' Nigeria are right back in this game as they get a second goal out of nowhere as a cross is lifted into the box and Salami knocks the ball down for Ali on the edge of the area and he strikes the ball first time on the volley, and his effort finds the bottom corner giving Lamyaghri no chance. Game on here, the defending from Morocco in the second half has been poor to say the least.58' Morocco should have been going through to the semi finals, but their defending since half time has been abject and they've given Nigeria much more than a sniff to get back into this one. Even worse for them they've created nothing and have barely had a touch of the ball.
61' CHANCE! Morocco have an excellent chance to regain a two-goal lead as Karrouchy raids down the left and he gets to the byeline before he lifts a cross into the area and Abdessamad is unmarked and he powers a header at goal but he is denied by a great save by Agbim, who turns the ball over the bar.63' This game is wide open now and it's anyone's guess who will advance to the to the last four at the moment. Both sides look capable of scoring on every attack which suits Nigeria very well at the moment.65' CHANCE! Nigeria come again and Uzoenyi digs out a cross which evades the head of Imenger in the middle and lands at the feet of Shehu at the back post and he fires his effort over the bar, when he had time to pick his spot. That was a real chance to get an equaliser for Nigeria, they can't afford to waste chances like that.
68' SHOT! Morocco's turn to attack and they work the ball across the middle before if comes to Oulhaj down the right who fires a vicious shot at goal, which goes just over the bar. Chances aplenty here.69' YELLOW CARD! Uzoenyi is brought down on the edge of the area down the right for Nigeria and tbe are awarded a free kick, which might be too difficult to fire at goal from the tight angle.
70' The free kick is whipped into the near post by Esieme but Lamyaghri manages to punch the ball away before any player in a white shirt can get to the ball. Good keeping.72' Now Morocco win a free kick, around 25 yards from goal as Iajour is brought down. Abdessamad stands over the ball and he lets fly with an effort which is on target but doesn't have enough power to beat Agbim, who makes a comfortable save to catch the ball.
74' A lot of free kicks are being given away at the moment, and Nigeria earn another 30 yards from goal down the right but this one is in line with goal. Ali decides to take the shot on and he fires an effort over the wall but is also goes over the bar, wasted opportunity there.
77' SHOT! Uzochukwu raids forward from midfield as he picks the ball up down the middle and he decides to go for goal rather than pass the ball and he miscues his effort as he slices the ball and his shot goes well wide of the target.
80' It's getting close to desperation time for Nigeria as they will be forced to throw everything forward to try and force an equaliser here. They've shown a lot of character in the second half but it might not be enough.83' Morocco are doing a good job of keeping possession away from Nigeria and are watching the clock tick closer and closer towards the 90 minute mark. They should have done this a lot earlier.86' Iajour almost gets through into the box as he beats several challenges on the edge of the area to set up a shooting opportunity but at the last moment Obanor is there to make the tackle to make sure the striker can't end the game.90' GOAL! Morocco 3-3 Nigeria (Uzoenyi)
90' + 3' FULL-TIME: Morocco 3-3 Nigeria
What an incredible 45 minutes of football. Morocco must have been pretty confident at half time that they would progress to the semi-finals but three goals from Nigeria changed all that and now we're going into extra time. A complete turnaround after the break from both teams, Morocco must be kicking themselves.91' We're underway in extra time.93' Slow start to extra time as both sides look a little jaded. Nigeria won a corner down the left but it was well cleared by the Moroccan defence, while El Ouadi had a raid down the left for Morocco but he tried to take on too many players and was crowded out.
95' CHANCE! Uzoenyi raids into the area and he gets down the right and tries to shoot at goal from a tight angle and does extremely well to get an effort at goal, which Lamyaghri does well to save and then from the rebound Imenger is flagged offside.
99' CHANCE! Nigeria should be ahead as Uzoenyi raids down the right again and he cuts back onto his left foot and delivers the ball into the area and his cross is perfect for the unmarked Ali six yards from goal but he can't find the target with his header. What a miss that was!
100' Morocco's turn to threaten as Iajour wins the ball upfield and he plays in El Ouaid down the left, he raids into the box but instead of shooting he decides to try and find the striker with a cross but his effort is cut out and Nigeria manage to scramble the ball away.103' Morocco earn a free kick about 25 yards from goal, this is a good chance to threaten just before the break.
104' CHANCE! Iajour misses the chance of the game as he somehow puts his effort wide from two yards out and the goal at his mercy. El Ouadi took the free kick quickly and knocked it down the line for the unmarked Karrouchy who hit a first-time cross for the striker in the middle, who couldn't finish the move off. That's one of the worst you will see, he didn't just put it wide, he put it high and wide. That didn't have much going for it at all.
105' HALF-TIME: Morocco 3-3 Nigeria106' We're back underway in extra time.109' SHOT! Shehu tries his luck from the edge of the area after Morocco fail to clear their lines following a cross into the box and he makes good connection with his effort but it goes just wide of the post, Lamyaghri seemed quite comfortable that that shot was going wide.112' GOAL! Morocco 3-4 Nigeria (Ibrahim)
113' Unbelievable after taking a 3-0 lead after 41 minutes in the game, it's now Morocco who are in dire need of a goal to stay in the competition. What a comeback from Nigeria.
115' That task is looking harder by the second for Morocco as Nigeria are winning the battles in midfield and are taking time off the clock by running the ball into the corner. Time is running out for Morocco.
117' Morocco waste a good chance to get their equaliser from a free kick as Aberhoune is flagged for offside in the penalty area from El Ouadi's chip into the box. It's all a bit desperate for Morocco now.
119' Imeneger blasts an effort over the bar and then sees his effort cleared off the line as he lobbed Lamyaghri but Karrouchy was there to boot the ball away. It's make of break for Morocco now as they are flinging men forward which leaves them open at the back.
121' Obanor has a crack at goal from the halfway line and Lamyaghri is not expecting the effort and has to scramble down quickly to his right to make the save. A great effort, Nigeria more likely to score at this stage than Morocco do.
123' FULL-TIME: Morocco 3-4 Nigeria
Incredible scenes as Nigeria advance to the last four of the African Nations Championship after coming behind from 3-0 down after the first 45 minutes of the game to beat Morocco 4-3 after extra time. It was an excellent effort from the players who never gave up despite a miserable first half, and going into extra time there appeared to be only one winner as a costly mistake from Morocco keeper Nadir Lamyaghri handed Abubakar Ibrahim the chance to hit his side into the semi-finals and he duly slotted the ball home.
Morocco will be kicking themselves after letting their three-goal lead slip. They looked edgy after half time and Nigeria took advantage of those nerves to get back into the game and draw level after 90 minutes. Even during extra time they could have won the game but Iajour missed an absolute sitter and that seemed to deflate them even further and then Lamyaghri made the crucial error to hand Nigeria the win to put them into the last four of the tournament. -
No comments:
Post a Comment