Onumonu shines brightest in Oshoala's absence as Nigeria beat Ivory Coast 2-0 in AWCON qualifier

Ifeoma Onumonu got on the scoresheet twice as Nigeria put two goals past Ivory Coast in the first leg of their 2022 Women's Africa Cup of Nations (AWCON) qualifier.

The Super Falcons were without captain Asisat Oshoala after she had suffered a hamstring in training, but had Leicester City's Ashleigh Plumptre make her debut. 

Plumptre partnered stand-in captain Onome Ebi in defence with Nigeria, starting the game on a shaky note. 

The dominance of the Lady Elephants did not last for long as Nigeria took charge of the midfield, eventually scoring off an attacking advantage in the 13th minute. However, the centre referee overlooked Onumonu's effort, awarding a free-kick instead.

Onumonu eventually got her first goal of the game eight minutes later, as she finished off Esther Okoronkwo's pass from close range.

The rest of the first half saw Ivory Coast attempt to get themselves back into the game but were denied on two occasions by Nigeria's goalkeeper Chiamaka Nnadozie, leaving the Super Falcons 1-0 winners at the break.

The Super Falcons unlike the first half, started the second period strongly, with Onumonu again, finding the back of the net. This time, a solo effort ended with her beating Ivory Coast's keeper with a sublime lobbed finish in the 56th minute.

With over thirty minutes left to play, coach Randy Waldrum's ladies opted to hold up strongly in defence to preserve the team's lead. The visitors' spent the latter part of the game, attacking, but the game was to be Nigeria's at full-time.

With one ticket (of twelve) to the Women's African Cup of Nations still up for grabs, Nigeria will look to move past their 2-0 home victory and turn their attention to the return leg in Abidjan.

The second leg, holding on Tuesday, February 23 will either see the Super Falcons qualify for their 12th consecutive AWCON or Ivory Coast, pick the ticket and hand Nigeria another upset - as they did ahead of the 2020 Olympic Games that held in Tokyo.