Russia 3-3 Super Eagles: Adams Rescues Late Draw for Nigeria

The Super Eagles came from two goals down to draw 3-3 with Russia in an international friendly at the Nizhny Novgorod Stadium, with Akor Adams scoring a stoppage-time equaliser. Kelechi Iheanacho and debutant Peter Edokpolor also scored for Eric Chelle's depleted side.

Nigeria took the lead after only ten minutes when Iheanacho received a pass from Abdullahi Bewene and curled a left-footed shot from around 21 yards past the Russian goalkeeper.

Russia gradually took control, and Lechi Sadulaev equalised in the 30th minute from an assist by Matvey Kislyak. Kislyak then scored himself in first-half stoppage time to put the hosts 2-1 ahead at the break.

Nigeria made two changes at the start of the second half, with Umar replacing Iheanacho and Adams coming on. In the 54th minute, Aleksey Miranchuk converted a Sobolev assist to make it 3-1, and Nigeria looked beaten.

Substitute Peter Edokpolor, the Benfica player who came on in the 70th minute, pulled one back in the 78th minute on his senior international debut. In the fourth minute of stoppage time, Adams finished a counter-attack to level at 3-3, helped by an unselfish assist from substitute Umar Abubakar.

Russia had 63 per cent of the possession against Nigeria's 37 per cent, and 15 shots to Nigeria's eight. Russia won seven corners to three and had six shots on target to Nigeria's four, but Nigeria showed resilience to avoid defeat.

Nigeria went into the game without many senior players, who withdrew because of injuries, club refusals to release them and visa problems. The result gives the Super Eagles some relief after their 3-0 defeat to Guinea-Bissau in an AFCON qualifier. Chelle also has new selection decisions after the debutants' performances, ahead of Nigeria's next competitive games in November.

Source and attribution: This 247NewsCheck match report is based on match data and reports from Nigerian and international sports outlets. The information is attributed to those sources and is not independent reporting from the stadium by 247NewsCheck.