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Nigeria 1-0 Uzbekistan: Ayinde helps Super Falcons silence Turanians
The Super Falcons continued with their impressive form in the Turkish Women's Cup with a narrow win over the Central Asians
Nigeria continued their fine start in the 2021 Turkish Women's Cup with a 1-0 victory over Uzbekistan in Antalya on Saturday.
The Super Falcons came into the contest on the back of Thursday's 1-0 win against CSKA Moscow thanks to Chinwendu Ihezuo's strike off Francisca Ordega's assist at the Emir Sports Complex.
On Saturday, new coach Randy Waldrum kept faith in the same squad that pipped the Russian champions as the West Africans continued where they left off against the Central Asians.
The Super Falcons started the tie on a high against Bakhrom Norsafarov's side as Ihezuo almost grabbed the opener off a fine cross from Toni Payne after just 10 minutes into the contest.
At the half-hour mark, Asisat Oshoala almost broke the deadlock when she snatched the ball on the edge of the area but she, unfortunately, slipped inside the box to miss the opportunity.
After the restart, the Nigerian side made a fine return into the match as Oshoala provided a perfect cross for Halimatu Ayinde to open the scoring for the hosts two minutes into the second half.
In the closing stages, Rita Chikwelu and Francisca Ordega combined well before connecting with Oshoala but the latter could not end her goal drought in six matches for both club and country.
The win puts Nigeria on the brink of the title and moves them to the top of the group standings, with six points from two matches.
They will now seek to wrap their campaign on a high when they face familiar African foes Equatorial Guinea on February 23.
In the other result in the group, CSKA Moscow claimed their first win of the competition following a 2-0 win over Equatorial Guinea.
