Iheanacho’s Strike Makes Nigeria Beat Mali 1-0 in International Friendly

Iheanacho’s Strike Makes Nigeria Beat Mali 1-0 in International Friendly

The Super Eagles ended a poor run of four games without a win as they edged Mali 1-0 in an international friendly match at the Stade Richon in Rouen, France, on Friday.

Manchester City starlet Kelechi Iheanacho came off the bench for Alex Iwobi to open his international account with the senior national team.

With many of the first-team regulars either out injured or unavailable, Interim coach Salisu Yusuf put out a makeshift squad with Musa Mohammed making his début at right back while Ogenyi Onazi wore the captain’s armband on the night.

The lack of quality was evident all through the game as Nigeria had a number of goal scoring opportunities in the first half through Musa Mohammed and Idion Ighalo but couldn’t bury any.

And then Iheanacho entered the fray in a bid to add some spark to proceedings, and the former youth international did just that, slotting home his first senior Nigeria goal from close range after Michael Babatunde found him in space in the area.

He nearly doubled the lead in the 87th minute as Nigeria applied the gas in the closing stages of the encounter.

The Super Eagles will now travel to Luxembourg to take on the Luxembourg national side on May 31st.