By Olaitan Ibrahim
Under the electric lights of the Gtech Community Stadium, the Super Eagles of Nigeria stunned long-time rivals Ghana with a thrilling 2-1 victory in the Unity Cup semifinal on Wednesday night.
It took just 14 minutes for Nigeria to flex their dominance as Cyriel Dessers struck with lethal precision, burying the opener off an assist from S. Ismail.
Moments later, Ghana’s night turned chaotic when Razak Simpson disastrously turned the ball into his own net, handing Nigeria a comfortable 2-0 lead and sending the crowd into a frenzy.
Ghana looked rattled and helpless, failing to register a single shot on target in the first half as the Super Eagles applied relentless pressure.
Things went from bad to worse when Kamaradini Mamudu and Salis Abdul Samed were both booked for crunching fouls within two chaotic minutes.
The Black Stars finally found a spark in the 70th minute through substitute Brandon Asante-Thomas, who fired past Nigeria’s keeper to claw one back and inject tension into the final stretch. But it wasn’t enough.
Nigeria now marches into the final to face the Reggae Boyz of Jamaica on Saturday, after Jamaica edged Trinidad and Tobago 3-2 in a pulsating clash of their own.