A brilliant brace from speedy Super Eagles striker, Ahmed Musa was the tonic Nigeria needed to defeat Iceland 2-0 at the Volgograd Arena on Friday.
Nigeria went into the match needing a win to boost their hopes of progression and they took confidence from the fact that each of their five World Cup victories had come against European opposition.
A second half brace from Ahmed Musa reignited the Super Eagles’ campaign following their opening day loss to Croatia.
Musa’s goals made him the first Nigerian to score at two FIFA World Cups after scoring a brace against Argentina in a 3-2 loss at the 2014 World Cup.
The Leicester City star is now Nigeria’s World Cup top scorer with four goals in the competition.
The first half was all Iceland as they created most of the scoring chances, going close on six occasions while the Super Eagles held more of the possession edging it 60 per cent to Iceland’s 40 without any shot on or off target.
It was a different Super Eagles that emerged for the second half as they pressed Iceland back and were rewarded with Musa’s goals.
Iceland almost pulled themselves back into the game following a foul by Tyrone Ebuehi. The decision was not initially given but after the referee consulted the Video Assistance Referee, he finally gave the penalty which Gylfi Sigurdsson missed.
The Super Eagles are now second in Group D on three points while Iceland are third with just one point.
Packaged by Lanre Olabisi
