Wearing black armbands in honour the late Thompson Oliha, the home-based Super Eagles started the game with some neat exchanges of passes, with Gomo Onduku and Ezekiel Mba inspiring Nigeria's early incursions against a tough Ivorian team led by Roger Assale and Coulibaly.
Mohammad Gambo redeemed his image with a well taken goal to give Nigeria a deserved lead in the 12th minute. The Kano Pillars striker received a pass from Sunday Mba before turning his marker to drive home a left footed shot.
Both sides continued to create chances but it was Nigeria that would score again to double their advantage through Mba in the 28th minute after a long ball from Oboabona was met by Ezekiel Mba who whipped in a cross for Sunday Mba to blast home from outside the box.
Gambo headed home a cross from Kwambe in the 36th minute but the goal was disallowed. But inspite of pressure from Nigeria, the Ivorian’s remained resilient and were duly rewarded when Assale and Coulibaly combined well for the latter to score and pull a goal back for the Elephants going into the break.
Upon resumption of the second half, Enyimba's Ifeanyi Edeh came on for Gomo Onduku.
The Ivorian’s suffered a depletion when the referee sent off Baresi for a hard tackle on Mba. Their plight was worsened when a penalty was awarded against them when an Ivorian player handled the ball off a corner kick taken by Kwambe in the 48th minute, leading to a protest from the Ivorian’s which culminated in Roger Assale being sent off for a verbal assault on the referee.
Mba scored with the penalty kick and Nigeria continued to dominate with the likes of Oboabona, and substitute Emeka Eze missing near chances.
Nigeria eventually sealed the win when Mba put Ifeanyi Edeh through to score the fourth goal in the 80th minute.
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