Nigeria Vs Ghana (2:1): Retrospective Review

Ghana must Go (Down)

There appears to be a paradigm shift in this bitter West African rivalry as Nigeria secured back-to-back wins against noisy neighbours after yesterday’s glorious 2:1 triumph in London.

Circa a year ago, the Super Eagles walked over the Black Stars with ease in an identical score-line, giving Nigeria fans the undisputable bragging rights.

The much maligned Dessers opened the scoring with a neat finish in 14 minutes following a wicked cross from Ismaila with Ajayi’s deflected header making it 2:0 five minutes later from Chukwueze’s pristine freekick delivery.

Thomas Asante’s laboured finish in 70 minutes only served to give Ghana fans false hope of a comeback as the match ended 2:1 to the rightful victors!

It was nice to see the Super Eagles play with hunger, desire and passion earlier on. They took the fight to Ghana and could have easily scored more goals. The 4-1-3-2 formation proved very compact and most of the players felt at home in this arrangement.

There were periods of cool, calm and composed passage of play from Nigeria as they combined and connected with neat passes. They actually played like a team that had been together for a while with a high level of chemistry, cooperation and camaraderie.

I thought Chukwueze had his best performance for the Super Eagles in a while. Whether operating from the middle, or cutting in from the flanks, he was progressive and helped transition from defence to attack with menace, class and poise. Ismaila (known for his ruthless crosses in the NPFL) delivered the goods from right back.  

Onyeka was uncompromising and solid while Igoh was unyielding and forceful. Semi Ajayi was calmness personified whilst Nwabili pulled off a world class low dive save.

Ndidi brought experience and midfield expertise to the table whilst Papa Daniel sort of played it safe and was slightly underwhelming. Despite his great goal and excellent commitment, Dessers sort of struggled with hold-up play.

Alimi, who was excellent without the ball, lacked the pace to keep up with the intensity of the game and his combination with Dessers was a few cards short of a packed deck.

Onyemaechi was busy defensively but his trademark crosses took the night off.

I thought Nigeria suffered after the first batch of subs was made. Musa and Iheanacho – never really known for hard pressing game – didn’t really assist the midfield in wresting back the initiative from Ghana.

Iheanacho almost delivered the kiss of death goal but for a wafer-thin offside infraction. Musa won a free kick but didn’t really impose himself on the game with Simon trying and failing to dribble his way from the flanks when the team needed the sort of injection and incision from the middle that Chukwueze had provided.

All in all I thoroughly enjoyed the game and will be watching it in full again.

The Super Eagles played with a sky-high level of understanding and professionalism that left me speechless and in awe, when you think that a number of these players might never kit for the national team again.

Their performance hits all the right spots prior to the substitutions and even then, it is great testament to their staying-power for not allowing Ghana to equalise.

It’s a 4/5 overall performance from me.