Osaze Odemwingie scored twice on Saturday to lead Nigeria to a 4-0 win over South Africa and maintain their chances to qualify for the African Cup of Nations quarterfinals.
The Super Eagles, whose troubled campaign took a turn for the worse on Friday when three players were sent home for indiscipline, got an early boost in the fourth minute when South African goalkeeper Emille Baron failed to clear a corner and allowed defender Joseph Yobo to tap the ball into the empty goal.
Captain Jay-Jay Okocha converted a controversial 63rd minute penalty after referee Mohamed Ali Bujsaim ruled South African defender Aaron Mokoena touched the ball with his hand when falling to the ground following a tussle with Arsenal’s Nwankwo Kanu.
Okocha’s penalty was the 1 000th goal in the history of the African Cup.
With 10 minutes to go, substitute Odemwingie created himself some space on the right and fired a sterling left-footed drive past Baron from the edge of the area.
Two minutes later, the striker from Belgium’s La Louviere scored his second from close range after a goalmouth scramble.
South Africa lacked any edge in attack and never looked close to pulling off an upset.
Both South Africa and Nigeria now have three points from two games in Group D. Morocco, which beat Nigeria in the opener, played Benin later on Saturday.
After the early goal, Nigeria kept up the pressure and should have led by a wider margin as early as 15 minutes into the game, but Kanu and John Utaka failed to convert good chances.
South Africa hung on for the rest of the first half and almost made Nigeria pay for sloppy finishing.
In the 26th minute, Mbulelo Mabizela sent Siyabonga Nomvethe through and his angled shot needed a great one-handed save from Vincent Enyeama to deny South Africa an equaliser.
After its quick start, Nigeria slowly lost steam, a situation that already cost it dearly in the opening 1-0 loss against Morocco.
The Super Eagles needed a controversial penalty decision to get the breakthrough and delight its fans in the 20 000 Ben Jannet Stadium.
On the eve of the match three Nigerian players — defender Celestine Babayaro of Chelsea, striker Victor Agali of Schalke 04 and Portsmouth striker Yakubu Ayegbeni — were sent home because of indiscipline.
Despite the disappointing performance against Morocco, coach Christian Chukwu only made three changes to the lineup, two of which were forced because of the suspensions.
Lineups
Nigeria: Vincent Enyeama; George Abbey, Joseph Yobo, Isaac Okoronkwo, Garba Lawal,; Nwankwo Kanu (67, Osaze Odemwingie), Seyi Olofinjana, Jay-Jay Okocha, John Utaka; Ifeanyi Ekwueme, Julius Aghahowa.
South Africa: Emille Baron; Thabang Molefe, Aaron Mokoena, Mbulelo Mabizela, Jacob Lekgetho; Sibusiso Zuma (73, Stanton Fredericks), Benson Mhlongo (46, Bernard Mnguni), John Moshoeu, Delron Buckley; Patrick Mayo, Siyabonga Nomvethe.
Referee : Mohamed Ali Bujsaim. – Sapa-AP