International friendly: Ivorian Elephants defeat Flying Eagles 2-0 to avenge first-leg loss

By Olaolu Joseph

The Young Elephants of Côte d’Ivoire avenged their earlier defeat to Nigeria’s Flying Eagles by securing a 2-0 victory in the second leg of their friendly encounter in Abidjan on Friday evening.

Aliyu Zubairu’s side had claimed a deserved 2-0 win over their hosts in the first match on Wednesday, but the Young Elephants responded strongly, asserting dominance at the Stade Félix Houphouët-Boigny.

The tempo and general flow of Friday’s game contrasted sharply with Wednesday’s, as the Young Elephants controlled possession and kept the visitors on the back foot for most of the encounter.

The hosts took the lead in the 17th minute through Tape Yaya Kader’s strike from open play and doubled their advantage eight minutes into the second half via a penalty converted by Isaac Cissé.

On Wednesday, Nigeria had opened the scoring with a penalty converted by captain Daniel Bameyi before Divine Oliseh sealed the victory with a goal from open play.

The Flying Eagles’ contingent is set to return to Abuja on Saturday.