Moses inspires Nigeria; SA, Uganda win

Victor Moses opened and closed the scoring as Nigeria overcame Algeria 3-1 on Saturday to take charge of their group in 2018 World Cup qualifying.

Captain John Obi Mikel, a Chelsea teammate of Moses, was also on target for Nigeria at a packed Uyo stadium while Nabil Bentaleb scored for Algeria with an unstoppable drive.

With Cameroon surprisingly held 1-1 at home by Zambia, Nigeria have taken a four-point lead after matchday 2 in Group B, regarded as the toughest of the five African mini-leagues.

Only section winners qualify for Russia and Nigeria are sitting pretty with a maximum six points from two matches, Cameroon have two and Zambia and Algeria one each.

If Nigeria win three of their remaining four qualifiers from next August -- two of which are at home -- they will be guaranteed to finish first and secure a sixth World Cup appearance.