BOUAKE, Ivory Coast: Nigeria reached the quarter-finals of the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations after Ademola Lookman scored twice to beat a disappointing Cameroon 2-0 in the last 16 in Abidjan.

The Atalanta forward opened the scoring nine minutes before the break after Victor Osimhen forced Oumar Gonzalez into a mistake and then teed up Lookman to fire past goalkeeper Fabrice Ondoa, who was preferred to Andre Onana.

Former England Under-21s forward Lookman sealed the win in the 90th minute after one of the game’s best moves, volleying home Calvin Bassey’s cutback to spark huge celebrations among the three-time champions.

Despite introducing Vincent Aboubakar, top scorer at the 2021 tournament, late on for his first appearance after a muscle injury sustained on the eve of the finals, Cameroon failed to register a shot on target.

The Super Eagles will meet Angola, who impressed in a 3-0 win over Namibia earlier, in the last eight on Friday, also in the Felix Houphouet-Boigny Stadium. Gelson Dada scored twice.

Angola, who claimed their biggest ever Cup of Nations finals win, had an early setback when goalkeeper Neblu received a red card and they were under pressure from a Namibia side that looked the most likely to find the net.

But the game turned when Gelson opened the scoring after 38 minutes, Namibia defender Lubeni Haukongo received a red card shortly afterwards and the Angola forward completed his double from the resulting free-kick.

Angola added a third goal through Mabululu in the second period and now await a quarter-final tie against the winners of the last-16 clash between Nigeria and Cameroon that will be played later on Saturday.

Namibia made their debut in the Cup of Nations knockout rounds but could not profit from an early piece of good fortune.

Angola were reduced to 10 men after 17 minutes when Neblu handled the ball outside the box as he stopped Bethuel Muzeu’s chipped shot.

It was poor play all round by the team as defender Kialonda Gaspar was caught in possession by Muzeu, who had a clear run on goal and forced the error from the keeper.

Deon Hotto’s resulting free kick from the edge of the area was superbly saved by replacement keeper Antonio Dominique.

Despite their numerical disadvantage, Angola took the lead with a superbly constructed goal. Fredy was played into space on the right-hand side of the box and his low cross provided a tap-in for Gelson.

Two minutes later and it was 10 players each as Namibia defender Haukongo received a needless second yellow card and was sent off.

From the resulting free kick, the same two players combined for Angola’s second goal. Fredy delivered the set-piece and Gelson headed home for his fourth goal of the tournament.

Peter Shalulile fired over early in the second half as Namibia tried to reduce the deficit but it was Angola who scored the next goal.

Mabululu burst into the box after a quick counter-attack and curled a fine finish in at the far post to kill the contest.

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