Nigeria assumed early control of their nightmare World Cup qualification group with an impressive 3-1 home win over Algeria.
Victor Moses continued his excellent club form with a double either side of a goal from his Chelsea team-mate John Obi Mikel as the Super Eagles made it two wins from as many games in a group which also contains Zambia and Cameroon.
Nabil Bentaleb scored Algeria's only goal but in a group where all four nations have been crowned African champions, Nigeria have emerged as the early favourite to take the one qualification place on offer.
A 1-1 draw between Cameroon and Zambia in the other match in Group B means the Super Eagles are four points clear after two games.
Moses was the architect of the win in Uyo as he first punished hesitant defending on 25 minutes, when he burst into the area and saw a weak attempt to clear fall back into his path for him to finish.
Mikel doubled the home side's lead just before break and while Bentaleb set up a nervy finale, Moses sealed the points in injury-time when he blasted home after a counter-attack.
Cameroon are Nigeria's closest challengers as they claimed a second successive draw, with Vincent Aboubakar's penalty in first-half injury-time cancelling out Collins Mbesuma's 34th-minute goal for visitors Zambia in Limbe.
South Africa and Burkina Faso sit level at the top of Group D on four points after wins over Senegal and Cape Verde Islands respectively.
Bafana Bafana made their move just before half-time as Thulani Hlatshwayo's 43rd-minute penalty was quickly followed by a Thulani Serero goal in Polokwane - and Senegal could only respond through Cheikh Ndoye 15 minutes from the end.
First-half goals from Banou Diawara and Prejuce Nakoulma gave visitors Burkina Faso a 2-0 win over Cape Verde in Praia.
Uganda are yet to concede in Group E as Farouk Miya's 18th-minute goal secured a 1-0 win over Congo in Kampala.
Source: PA
