The Super Eagles of Nigeria played a dramatic 1-1 draw with Cameroon at the Stade Omnisport Amadou Ahidjo in Yaounde, on Monday evening, September 4, 2017, to edge closer to a place in the 2018 World Cup finals in Russia.
The first half of the game was lacking in goalmouth action until Moses Simon broke the deadlock in the 30th minute, before substitute Vincent Aboubakar tucked home a deserved 75th minute penalty for the hosts to play out a grudging stalemate.
Nigerian coach, Gernot Rohr, kept faith with the same team that started when the Eagles blitzed the reigning African champions 4-0 on home turf three days ago in Uyo.
His opponent, Hugo Broos, however, opted for a different side, most notably replacing the unimpressive Michael Ngadeu Ngadjui with Yaya Banana in central defence.
The game started with a cautious Nigeria trying to close Cameroon down, while the wounded Lions held on to the ball trying to fashion an opeing.
Despite support from the loud roaring home fans, a resolute central partnership of Williams Troost-Ekong and Leon Balogun kept Cameroon's early forays forward to the fringes of the pitch where momentum broke down.
They almost got the opening goal in the 8th minute when a cross from down the right flank landed next to Jean-Pierre Nsame in the box, but he fluffed his effort wide of the post.
They came back again a minute later when a deflection freed Fabrice Olinga to make a cross into the six-yard box, but it ended up in the safe arms of goalkeeper Ikechukwu Ezenwa who was impressive in the first leg fixture.
Nigeria's chances at the beginning of the game were limited to free kicks that were too tame to really threaten the Cameroonian defence .
Victor Moses, a constant threat in the first leg drubbing, was up to his old tricks again, keeping the Cameroonian defence on its toes while both teams desperately probed for the decisive opening goal.
A darting run forward by Balogun in the 25th minute resulted into a free kick that was wasted by Moses, as both teams tried to expose themselves on the counter to no avail.
Nigeria finally broke the deadlock in the 30th minute through Simon after Moses and Odion Ighalo threw the Cameroonian defence into disarray, leading to the ball falling at Simon's feet with the goal gaping.
Victor Moses had directed a weak shot at goalkeeper Fabrice Ondoa at the near post before Ighalo stole it from his waiting hands into the path of Simon who stabbed the ball into the empty net to put Nigeria ahead.
Ighalo soon went close again for Nigeria after getting on the end of a great Moses pass, dribbling past Banana, before blasting the ball over the b ar.
Much like in their previous game, Cameroon's attempts to quickly get back into the game paid no dividends as the Nigerian team held off their attacks, heading into the dressing room at half time with a 1 nil advantage
The second half started in identical fashion, with a cautious Nigeria calmly warding off attempts by the reigning African champions to penetrate their solid defensive wall.
Nsame had a chance to put Cameroon level after he chased a ball over the Nigerian defense down into the box, but his hesitation gave Balogun enough time to race from behind and snuff out the danger.
A misplaced pass by Troost-Ekong gave Cameroon momentum to attack the Super Eagles' goal, but Arnaud Djoum blasted the ball well wide from the edge of the area.
While Cameroon couldn't fashion out a clear chance to get back in the game, Moses went close to getting a second for Nigeria after he dribbled past the Indomitable Lions' defence in the box and curled the ball against the crossbar.
The Nigerian team was happy to sit back and soak the pressure until a rash decision by Ezenwa gifted Cameroon a golden opportunity to equalise in the 75th minute.
The goalkeeper rushed out of his line to bring down Aboubakar who picked himself up to dispatch the penalty down the middle of the net, sending him the wrong way.
The goal gave Cameroon the confidence their game had demanded all night at they won a rash of free kicks near the Nigerian box and piled pressure on the visitors.
The pressure almost paid off as the Indomitable Lions were dangerously close to getting a decisive lead in the 82nd minute after Ezenwa spilled a shot into the path of Collins Fai who ran into him as the goalkeeper heroically recovered to block a certain goal.
Despite the setback, Rohr's impressive side held on for an important draw that gives them 10 points from four games, as they remain top of the Group B table.
The Eagles remain favourites to qualify from the group as Cameroon's point makes it three for them while other group rivals Zambia and Algeria, who face off on Tuesday, have four points and one point respectively.
The draw spells the end of the road for Cameroon's World Cup hopes as they'll now be unable to match Nigeria's 10 points even if they win their final two games.
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