AFCON Qualifiers: Leone Stars held the Super Eagles to a barren draw in Freetown

Sierra Leone forced Nigeria to a barren draw in the second leg of their Group L African Cup of Nations qualifier in Freetown.

The Super Eagles have now been two times shy against the Leone Stars after last Friday’s first-leg in Benin City also ended in a draw after a spirited second-half performance saw Sierra Leone overturn a 4-1 first-half deficit, to draw 4-4.

Leicester City’s Kelechi Iheanacho had the game’s first attempt in the eighth minute but his effort was thwarted by Sierra Leone goalkeeper Mohamed Kamara.

Villarreal’s Samuel Chukwueze saw his effort brush off, with thirty minutes on the clock, as Nigeria continued to push for the opening goal.

The hosts also had their moments with Kei Lamar denied from close range by Nigeria’s goalkeeper, Maduka Okoye.

Sierra Leone came close to taking the lead just before halftime, but Okoye again stood in their way before the referee signaled for halftime.

Six minutes into the second half, Chukwueze produced a pass that found Iheanacho in space, but he couldn’t keep his shot on target.

Soon after that, Iheanacho had the ball in the net only to see it ruled out for offside.

With time running out, Iheanacho continued to cause problems for the opposition defence as he had a close-range effort saved by Sierra Leone’s goalkeeper Kamara.

Nigeria now has eight points from four games in Group L of the African Cup of Nations qualifiers, one more than the second-placed Benin Republic while Sierra Leone and Lesotho remained third party.