WAFU B U17 AFCONQ Nigeria 3 Togo 0: Abdulmuiz Adeleke and Adams find the net for Golden Eaglets

The Golden Eaglets have qualified for the semifinal of the WAFU Zone B U17 Championship, having defeated Togo 3-0 in their final group game played on Thursday morning.

Coach Manu Garba made two changes to the side that defeated Niger, with John Ogwuche replacing the injured Boluwatife Ekishola while Edward Ochigbo was preferred to Oreoluwa Agbenla in the middle of the park.

In the 5th minute, Abdulmuiz Adeleke was put in a good position to open the scoring but was denied from getting his shot on target by a Togolese defender.

Adeleke finally put Nigeria ahead in the 9th minute, burying the ball into the bottom corner from Abdulmuiz Oladimeji's pass.

Two minutes later, the Togolese came close to restoring parity, but the attempted effort narrowly drifted wide.

Adeleke came close to setting up the second goal, having found the run of Oladimeji, but the latter's chipped effort over the goalkeeper sailed over the crossbar.

Garba was forced to make his first change of the game in the 22nd minute after Destiny Samuel was forced to come off due to an injury and was replaced by Imrana Muhammad.

The Eaglets doubled the lead in the 32nd minute when Adeleke held the ball up, fed it to Simon Cletus, who put a precise cross into the area for Adams to head it home.

Adams came close to getting the third goal in the stoppage time of the first half, but was denied by the goalkeeper.

Three minutes after the restart, Ochibo missed a glorious chance to give the defending champions a three-goal cushion.

Two minutes after the hour mark, Adeleke eventually gave Nigeria the three-goal advantage having been assisted by Cletus.

He missed the chance to grab his hat-trick in the 69th minute , having been denied by the Togolese shot stopper from the penalty spot.

The Eaglets came close to losing their clean sheet just before the final whistle when a foul was committed just on the edge of the penalty area, and the referee awarded a free-kick which Togo couldn't convert.

Ochibo repaid the faith showed in him by Garba and was named the man-of-the-match for his brilliant effort in the midfield for the defending champions.

In the other group game, Burkina Faso pipped Niger 1-0 which means Nigeria finish top of the table having garnered a better goal difference. 

They will now face Ivory Coast who came second in Group A in the semifinal on Saturday.

Abdulkareem Abdulhamid

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