Tom Dele-Bashiru's low stab past the hapless opposition goalkeeper in the second half proved the difference between the Super Eagles and Libya in Nigeria's slim 1:0 win in yesterday's Afcon qualifier.
This was the most claustrophobic performance I ever witnessed from the Super Eagles.
They just couldn't create enough Lebensraum where they could breathe and breed out compelling goals scoring chances.
It was all choked out there.
When Nigeria did create or find space, only Dele-Bashiru could attack it with enough ferocity, composure, conviction and soft-skill to bulge the back of the net.
Libya did exceptionally well to crowd their key defensive areas and create a traffic of players that the Super Eagles strikers struggled to navigate through.
Eguavoen's changes in the second half did pay dividends as the Super Eagles roamed into more dangerous Libyan territory in bountiful numbers and with bad intentions; even Captain Ekong could be spotted lurking and loitering in and around Libyan box 18.
Owing that it was experimental 4-3-3 formation that the team employed, I am willing to cut Eguavoen some slack.
As the Super Eagles grew into the game, particularly in the second half, cracks started to be created and inroads found in Libyan defensive infrastructure.
Top coaches in club football - Klopp, Guardiola etc - spare no expense in complaining how difficult it is to play against an opposition set up only to defend in massive numbers like Libya did. It is a frustrating to watch as it is to play against.
Yesterday's match should be assessed with Libyan negative strategies in mind, not to mention their goalkeeper's time wasting shenanigans.
To grind out a win under such annoying circumstances should deserve a measure of praise, particularly coming from the proactive action by Coach Eguavoen of making substitutions and tweaking the formation to achieve victory.
According to José Mourinho, there are no ugly wins, a win is a win.
But the Super Eagles have to learn how to create space and attacking with intent like Dele-Bashiru did in such circumstances.
It was a win, slim and ugly, but nonetheless valuable 3 points in the bag which served to couple a fresh carriage onto the train of healthy results powering the Super Eagles on the rails towards Afcon qualification.
Well done!
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