Snubbed Kaizer Chiefs target delivers first clean sheet as Nigeria make a meal out of Edmilson Dove's Mozambique to set a potential date with DR Congo in AFCON quarter-final

Nigeria defeated Mozambique 4-0 in the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) Round of 16 match in Fez, advancing to the quarterfinal. 

The 2013 winners started the game on high, with Victor Osimhen thinking he had found the back of the net after just two minutes, only to be denied by an offside during the build-up, as confirmed by the VAR.

Former Arsenal midfielder Alex Iwobi had a massive chance in the sixth minute to put his team in front after a nice defence-splitting pass, but goalkeeper Ernan Siluane pulled a stunning save to send the ball out for an unfruitful corner.

However, the West Africans were not to be denied in the 20th minute as Akor Adams found Ademola Lookman in a good area, and the versatile winger cut inside before drilling an unstoppable shot into the back of the net.

Five minutes later, the dangerous Victor Osimhen was at the end of a deflected ball to make it 2-0 for Nigeria, heading to the break.

Just two minutes after the restart, it was Ademola Lookman again who managed to get past his marker on the left, and his low cross, somehow, reached Osimhen, who reacted fastest to find the back of the net to make it 3-0.

Bright Osayi-Samuel and Akor Adams had their opportunities, but the former failed to hit the target while the latter was denied by the goalkeeper. 

In the 75th minute, the Super Eagles got their fourth when Adams received Lookman's pass in a tight angle, before unleashing a rocket past a helpless goalkeeper. 

It could have been a hiding for the COSAFA team, but Nigeria felt they were denied a penalty following what looked like a handball from Reinildo Mandava while Moses Simon failed to convert from close range in stoppage time.

Nigeria and Chippa United goalkeeper, Stanley Nwabali, who Kaizer Chiefs refused to sign in favour of Fiacre Ntwari two seasons ago, kept a clean sheet after failing to do so in the Group stage.

Before beating Mozambique, who are home to former Kaizer Chiefs defender Edmilson Dove, the three-time champions had recorded three wins in Group C.

They started with a 2-1 win over Tanzania in their first match of the tournament in the North African country of Morocco. 

Nigeria followed it up with another top-tier display in a 3-2 win over Tunisia who were deemed the toughest in the pool, before a 3-1 victory against Uganda ensured they claimed maximum points to advance.

The Carthage Eagles, who were recently eliminated by Mali, also made it out of the group alongside Tanzania, who also narrowly lost to Morocco in the last 16 phase, making it out after finishing among the best three best-placed nations.

Coach Eric Chelle is happy that his men have made it to the last eight, and opted to overlook the on-pitch incident that happened between Osimhen and Lookman.

“I keep that for me, and everything that happened in the group stays in the group, so we will see after that, and we will talk," he told the media.

“I’m happy about this game winning by four goals, but in reality, we didn’t do anything special; we just won one game. If we want to be ambitious, we need to continue to improve and keep this quality on the pitch.

“My job now is to keep the players very focused about their training sessions and behaviour," Chelle concluded.

The Super Eagles will now wait for the winner between Algeria and the Democratic Republic of Congo. 

Nigeria were recently eliminated from the 2026 World Cup qualifiers' play-offs by the Congolese team and the former will be hoping to avenge them, if they meet in the last eight.