Nigeria are through to the quarter-finals of the Africa Cup of Nations after beating Cameroon 2-0 in the round of 16 on Saturday night.
The Super Eagles were boosted by the return of captain William Troost-Ekong alongside recalls for Alex Iwobi, Ademola and Lookman.
The Indomitable Lions meanwhile, kept goalkeeper Andre Onana on the bench, as Fabrice Ondoa continued in goal and Frank Magri also continued to lead the attack, as Vincent Aboubakar recovered from injury to start from the bench.
Nigeria had a bright start as Semi Ajayi found the back of the net with 12 minutes on the clock with a strike from a scramble in the box but the goal was disallowed by the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) for offside.
The game became fiercely contested after that, with neither side not giving much away.
However, the pace and strength of Victor Osimhen crafted the opener for the Super Eagles ten minutes before the break after he burst through on goal and played a defence splitting pass to Lookman, who made it 1-0.
The game became a hard graft again, with Cameroon lacking the guile and creativity to create chances and Rigobert Song's charges went to the break trailing by an odd goal.
Jose Peseiro's men had a positive start in the second stanza as and eleven minutes gone, Lookman came close to doubling their lead with a free-kick from the edge of the box that sailed narrowly over the crossbar.
The Indomitable Lions struggled to get momentum going forward and with ten minutes to go, Song eventually brought on Aboubakar in place of left-back Oumar Gonzalez in a tactical change to try rescue the game.
Nigeria had to defend the last ten minutes with a new goalkeeper, Francis Uzoho, after Stanley Nwabali could not continue due to injury.
However, Cameroon were not combining in the last third and Nigeria were clinical with their chances, as Lookman buried the game in the last minute and completed his brace with a superb shot at the near post after a through ball by Calvin Bassey.
The Super Eagles will face Angola in the quarter-finals.
You must be SIGNED IN to read and post comments.
Click HERE to register!