Friendly: Resilient Super Eagles Forces Russia To A Stalemate

By Saheed Afolabi

Nigeria national team showed composure to grind out a 3-3 draw against Russia in an international friendly at Nizhny Novgorod Stadium on Tuesday night.

Kelechi Iheanacho marked his return to the Super Eagles fold with a goal while Peter Edokpolor and Akor Adams ensured the national team gave the Russians a run for their money.

Iheanacho clinical skill came to play in the 11th minute as he sent in a powerful strike from the edge of the box to give Nigeria the an early lead at the Nizhny Novgorod Stadium.

Defensive blunder from the Eagles paved way for Lechi Sadulev to equalize for the home side in the 30th minute.

Matvey Kislyak gave Russia the lead on the stroke of half time following another defensive mis calculation from the Nigeria side.

Nine minutes after the start of the second half, Aleksey Miranchuk extended the home side lead to the delight of the spectators at the stadium.

Debutant, Edokpolor made an instant magic coming off the bench as he dazzled his way through the Russia defense to reduce the deficit for Nigeria in the 78th minute.

Nigeria head coach, Eric Chelle provided injected fresh legs into the team in the 83rd minute while the Eagles were resilient in their pursuit for the equalizer.

The introduction of Vince Osunji for Chibuzo Nwoko kept pressure on the home side defense for the remainder of the game.

A swift attacking move initiated by Emmanuel Fernandez found Abdullahi who raced through on goal before laying a pass on a platter for Adams who finished off the move in style to grab Nigeria’s third goal and equalizer of the game in the 94th minute.

The Super Eagles will hope the six goal thriller against Russia will renew their form for the 2027 AFCON qualifier where they are behind Guniea Bissau by three points.