My Neighborhood Watch #116 - Reporting Events Around us
the sporting arena was filled to it's capacity of 30000 spectators
The Match Ticket(regular)
The starting eleven players for Nigeria were;
- Ola Aina
- Calvin Bassey
- Benjamin Fredrick
- Alex Iwobi
- Ademola Lookman
- Wilfred Ndidi
- Stanley Nwabari(Goalkeeper)
- Onyeka Frank
- Bruno Onyemaechi
- Victor Osimhen.
- Simon Moses
While the visiting Rwandan 11 players were;
- Ntwari(Goalkeeper)
- Ombalenga
- Mutsinzi
- Manzi
- Niyomugabo
- B. Mugisha
- Kayitaba
- Kwizera
- Biramahire
- G. Mugisha
- Nshuti.
Eric Chelle(coach) benched the team captain William Ekong, while the usual trio of Victor Osimhen, Ademola Lookman, and Victor Moses led the attack.
Nigeria started brightly but unfortunately Osimhen’s goal from Lookman’s pass on the 8th minutes was ruled out for offside.
Victor Osimhen however succumbed to injury and was replaced by Cyril Dessers in the 36th minute.
When Victor Osimhen pick-up injury and was replaced
mood of some spectators when Osimhen was down and taken out of the pitch
But the half-time petered out as both sides went into the break goalless.
Tolu Arokodare was introduced at the beginning of the second half in a tactical switch and the towering striker put Nigeria ahead on 51 minutes, blasting into the net from a yard out to give the Super Eagle a1-0 lead.
Tolu Arokodare opens the scoring for Nigeria. It is Nigeria 1, Rwanda 0.
change of mood when Nigeria team scored a goal
Tolu Arokodare took advantage of several rebounds in Rwanda's area, and shot a ball that was just bouncing around in the visitors' goal area and scored the first goal of this match. The home team is now leading by a lone goal.
Thereafter, Ntwari, the Rwandan goal keeper made a double save to deny Moses Simon and Ademola Lookman minutes later as the Eagles probed for more goals.
On the 67th minutes;
Rwandan Djihad Bizimana's header goes wide in a promising attack by the visitors.
The away team was caught off guard by Nigeria in the very final minutes of the first half and is now desperately seeking to have an equalizer.
With this standing, Nigeria now moved above Rwanda to third position with 10 points from seven matches; but just one point behind second-placed Benin Republic.
70th minute moment;
There are no major play moves and the pace of the game was slowed down, as compared to the intensity with which Nigeria started. Rwanda now has control of the ball and seeks to put it in the opponent's net but to no avail.
The game slowed down
Nigeria is at this time unable to finish its attacking plays against a team that is looking to improve its game to qualify for 2026 World cup.
At the 74th minute;
Alex Iwobi made an important play on the right wing side where, after a dribble, he passed the ball to Moses Simon, but the latter sent the ball flying into the clouds. The Nigerian team missed that opportunity, and failed to net the ball for a second goal.
Towards the end of the game, there was a dangerous scoring opportunity for the home team, but they were unable to convert it into a second goal.
Nigeria offside, William Troost-Ekong, the team captain attempted a through ball, but Bright Osayi-Samuel was in an offside position.
This was another significant attempt by the home team, Nigeria in the second half.
The match came to an end with a ⚽(one)-0(zero) victory for Nigeria over Rwanda.
With this, the eagle remain six points behind group leaders South Africa whom they will visit in another encounter which is a must-win match on September 9.But unfortunately, it came to past that they played a 1-1 draw in Bloemfontein, against the Bafana Bafana of South Africa.
The team must now win their remaining matches against Lesotho and Benin Republic in October, and hopefully the results from those fixtures go their way to stand a chance and secure qualifying for next year’s FIFA World Cup.
My invitation goes to @yancar, @akareen, @bambuka and @manuelhooks to write about some happenings in their neighbourhood. While thanking @xkool24 for always bringing us together to share information in this globally united forum.
All photos/video(s) are Author's Owned
X-link
https://x.com/rubees4life/status/1967637364026839461