Nigeria will meet Morocco in the next round. Photo: X@NG_Super Falcons.
A brace each from Uchenna Kanu and Toni Payne and another strike from Christy Ucheibe handed Nigeria's Super Falcons a 5-0 victory over Comoros in the second leg of their 2028 Olympic Games qualification tie on Tuesday.
The win sends the Falcons into the third round of the African qualifiers for the women's football event of the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics with a 7-0 aggregate scoreline, after they had won the first leg 2-0 at the same venue on Friday.
Played at the Remo Stars home ground in Ikenne, Ogun State, the second leg was one-way traffic from the start, with Nigeria dominating possession and territory against the visiting Southern Africans.
The breakthrough arrived in the 41st minute. Kanu capitalised on a defensive mistake and squared the ball to Payne, who fired into the net to give Nigeria a lead they carried into the break.
Kanu doubled the advantage in the 58th minute, rising to head home from a Folashade Ijamilusi delivery as the Falcons tightened their grip on the tie.
Three minutes later, Payne thought she had her second of the night when she finished another Ijamilusi cross, but the effort was ruled out for offside, keeping the score at 2-0.
Payne did not stay denied for long. In the 63rd minute, second-half substitute Blessing Okpe dribbled past two Comoros defenders before finding the Inter Milan Women star, who finished with aplomb for 3-0.
Kanu completed her brace three minutes after that, meeting yet another inviting Ijamilusi cross to head in Nigeria's fourth goal of the evening.
Okpe, the FC Dnepr Mogilev of Belarus forward who had been a handful since her introduction, then won a penalty for Nigeria after being fouled in the box, and Ucheibe coolly converted from the spot in the 71st minute to make it 5-0.
Nigeria finished the two-legged tie with seven unanswered goals, capping a dominant qualification round under interim coach Austine Eguavoen.
The Super Falcons will now meet Morocco in the third round of the qualifiers, to be played early next year, as they chase a place at the women's football tournament at the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.
Source: Channels Television
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