Alex Iwobi Makes History As Nigeria Lose 2-1 To England In Pre-World Cup Friendly

Published: June 02, 2018

An improved second half performance wasn't enough as Nigeria lost 2-1 to England in an international friendly at Wembley Stadium on Saturday.

After tonight's match, Gernot Rohr's side will then take on Czech Republic in Austria on Wednesday to finalise their preparations, before heading out to Russia and getting their 2018 FIFA World Cup campaign underway in two weeks' time.

The Nigerian supporters booed Dele Alli every time he touched the ball - his dad was Nigerian and he was able to play for them, but chose England instead and the fans had not forgiven or forgotten that.

England got forward down the left flank for the first time with Alli finding some space, but his low cross into the box was poor and easily cleared.

Poor refereeing resulted in the opener as Brian Idowu and Leon Balogun clashed heads inside their own area - and it looked like a painful one.

Jesse Lingard was calling for the referee to stop play, but he waited until England won a free kick before calling on the medics.

Just what England would have wanted. The hosts took the lead after just seven minutes, and it was a thumping header from Gary Cahill.

The corner - won from the free kick which shouldn't have been given was delivered into the middle and Cahill lost his marker before putting a brilliant header right into the top corner.

It was a dream start for England. Another decent move saw the ball slipped into the path of Raheem Sterling, who dipped inside but saw his effort deflected wide.

The resultant corner again caused problems as this time it was played short to Ashley Young, who put it into the box.

Goalkeeper Francis Uzoho parried it back out into the dangerous area, but John Stones just couldn't react in time to turn it goalwards and eventually the keeper gathered.

Nigeria just couldn't get into this tie, with England swarming all over them and really pushing for a second goal.

That second goal did not seem too far away from England. Victor Moses gave the ball away which sent Sterling darting off, and he exchanged passes with Harry Kane before racing through.

He was forced just too far wide to go for goal, but he exchanged passes with Young to instead set the wing-back up, and he was denied from close range by a fine last-ditch Brian Idowu block.

In the 37th minute, goalkeeper Jordan Pickford was called into action for the first time as Odion Ighalo tried his luck from a tight angle, but the Everton keeper was never going to be beaten from there.

England finally doubled their advantage as Kane blasted his finish through the keeper.

It was poor from Nigeria as they gave the ball away just inside their own half, allowing Eric Dier to launch a counter-attack.

He gave it to his Spurs teammate Kane, who exchanged passes with Sterling before drilling his finish in from the edge of the box. Uzoho should have done better.

It was almost a quick response from Nigeria as Ighalo looked to be through down the middle, but the ball was just too long for him and Pickford gathered it.

Nigeria didn't have many sights of goal in the first half, but there was another as Moses turned before firing a low strike in which Pickford needed to gather.

The Eagles got the game underway in the second half, they made a couple of changes, with Tyronne Ebuehi and Kenneth Omeruo replacing Shehu Abdullahi and Leon Balogun.

Joel Obi and Ogenyi Onazi also gave way for John Ogu and Oghenekaro Etebo respectively.

Nigeria came flying out of the blocks and suddenly they were back in the game just two minutes after the restart.

Iwobi dinked a lovely ball through for Ighalo, who wrapped his foot around the ball and fired his effort against the post with Pickford beaten. The Arsenal man became the first and only Nigerian player to score against England in the process.

There was an element of luck in that the ball bounced back straight out to Iwobi, who followed in and swept home the rebound.

There was plenty of vocal Nigerian fans inside Wembley tonight, and they were certainly making themselves heard following this improvement by their team.

Sterling got a yellow card for diving, and it is the right decision from the referee as he was going down before there was any contact by Uzoho in the box.

Moses tried his luck from range, but his effort was always rising high and wide of the target. The visitors upped their tempo a huge amount in the second half.

Nigeria had switched to a back three since half time, and England struggled to adapt to the new system.

Two minutes after the hour. Dier was close to one with a glancing header which zipped wide of the far post. He perhaps should have done better.

Nigeria then sprung forward down the right flank, though, with substitute Ebuehi sprinting clear of Young only to put too much on his cross.

In the 69th minute of play, Ahmed Musa showed good pace to get a yard on Kyle Walker down the left and put a cross into the box which England could only half clear.

The ball eventually arrived at the feet of John Obi Mikel, who tried his luck from range, but it was easy enough for Pickford.

The game petered out as England won 2-1 against Nigeria in front of their fans.

Abayomi Ademetan

Photo Credit : thefa.com