Emmanuel Emenike and Victor Moses scored at the end of the half first and the start of the second half respectively, as Nigeria booked its spot as one of the 10 African countries, that will play each other for the continent’s five tickets to Brazil 2014.
Stephen Keshi’s men were dominant from the referee’s whistle and gave the visitors no time to get into any rhythm at all. The front three of Emenike, Moses and Musa, caused the Malawians all sorts of problems, with their power, pace and trickery.
However, it was not until the 45th minute that they found the breakthrough. Onazi Ogenyi found Emenike with a glorious floated pass. The striker who just moved back to Fenerbahce, controlled it beautifully and lifted it over the goalkeeper.
Moses doubled the lead eight minutes after the break, after the referee gave away a soft penalty for a foul on Nnamdi Oduamadi. The winger stepped up and left the goalkeeper flat-footed.
The rest of the game was played out at casual pace, even after the Malawians were reduced to 10 men and when the Nigerians created chances, they were either fluffed or the keeper produced an outstanding save.
Nigeria will now join 9 other African countries in a draw and then play a two-legged match, to decide who represents the continent at next year’s football fiesta.
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