Ahmed Musa's brace hands Super Eagles first Russia 2018 victory against Iceland
- Nigeria claim their first victory at the 2018 World Cup after defeating Iceland at the Volgograd Arena
- Ahmed Musa scored the two goals in the second half of the meeting to help Nigeria rank second on Group D table
- They will meet Argentina in their last group game to stand a chance of reaching the next stage of the 2018 edition of the tournament
Leicester City star Ahmed Musa scored twice to hand the Super Eagles their first victory in the 2018 FIFA World Cup encounter at the Volgograd Arena.
The 25-year-old grabbed his first of the goal after receiving a timely and superb pass and carefully controlled the ball and confidently powered the ball into the back of the net.
Musa cmpleted his brace in the game after mesmerizing the Iceland defence including the goalkeeper before making it 2-0 for Gernot Rohr's side.
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The former CSKA Moscow man tried to get an hatrick in this meeting but was denied by the woodworks later into the second half of the game.
Both teams had endured a barren draw in the first half as they both watched either sides before launching an attack, but the two sides failed to hit target.
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Heimir Hallgrímsson's men made a lot of attempts to to break the Nigerian defence but all their efforts were unproductive as the three time AFCON champions kept a compact back line.
However, with this victory, Nigeria are second on the group table with three points as they face Argentina in their last group game next week.
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A win for the Super Eagles will push them into the next round of the competition having failed to pick a point against Croatia in their first game.
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Croatia are top the group with six points while Argentina and Iceland are one point each as they occupy the third and fourth positions.
Read our live updates below
FT' Nigeria 2-0 Iceland
97' newly introduced Iwobi tried to get his name on the scores sheet but his shot was blocked as the referee sounded the final whistle. Nigeria 2-0 Iceland
96' Mikel Obi suffers hand injury but he makes his way back into the game with less than 30 seconds to the end of the game
94' Victor Moses with another save after an Iceland's attack in Nigeria's danger zone
90' Alex Iwobi replaces Oghenekaro Etebo to have a feel of the game as the fourth official adds 6 minutes to of play
'90' Iceland win a free kick after Etebo hacks down GÍSLASON but their quick set piece was wasted
88' Francis Uzoho with another fantastic save from a close range advance from an Iceland attacker from the left flank
87' Ighalo made his first contact but pushed the ball too much as the goalkeeper made a simple save
84' Iheanacho takes his last kick in the match as Odion Ighalo comes into the game 5 minutes into the end of the game
82' SIGURDSSON misses an opportunity to reduce the deficit for Iceland as he balloons the ball over the bar
80' Penalty for Iceland as Ebuehi hacks down Alfred Finnbogason in the Super Eagles danger zone
77' Nigeria are playing better than they did in the first half of the game as they win most of the attacks Iceland throws at them
74' Goooooaaaaallllll Ahmed Musa dribbles the entire Iceland defence to carefully puts the ballt behind the net
72' Leon Balogun timely header went a bid wide as Iceland wins goal kick with just 18 minutes left to play
68' GÍSLASON tries a long range shot but went wide to gift Nigeria free kick
66' Victor Moses drives in from the right angle and launched a shot but it went a bit wide from the goal post
65' SIGURDSSON makes it out of the game as he makes way for Ingason after the defender suffer head injury earlier in the game
64' Fanstastic save from Super Eagles keeper Francis Uzuho as he launches Nigeria into another attack
60' GÍSLASON hacks Omeruo down in front of Nigera's box but managed to escape yellow card with half an hour left to play in the game
59' Omeruo saved SEVARSSON's header but Iceland are still attacking as Moses concedes a corner kick
57' Fantastic save from Iceland goalkeeper as Wilfred Ndidi tried a long range shot from outside the box.
48 Ahmed Musa opened scoring for Nigeria after getting an assist from Victor Moses early in the second half.
48' Goooooaaaaaaallllllll Ahmed Musa with a well taken goal for Nigeria.
48' Omeruo clears a box sent into the Nigeria box to gift Iceland a throwing in the game as the Super Eagles.
46' Iceland get the second half started and the Super Eagles had a very quick chance but Etebo's shot from range was weak and the keeper saved the ball
Half time substitution as Tyronne Ebuehi comes in for Bryan Idowu in a tactical formation
45' New Zealand referee Matthew Conger signals the end of the first half as both sides are yet to score
45' Troost-Ekong managed to avert danger but the corner kick that came afterwards was nodded out by the world cup debutants
44' Another near miss from Iceland as the set piece failed to make contact with the opposition in the Eagles box
44' Bryan Idowu gets the first yellow card of the game after fouling BÖDVARSSON at the edgte of Nigerian box
43' Victor Moses tried to cross the ball but Iceland defender stopped the ball from crossing into the danger zone
41' Ahmed Musa flagged offside after danger was cleared in the Nigerian box
38' Iheanacho set piece was blocked by Iceland's defence as the Super Eagles wins throwing
37' MAGNÚSSON trips Victor Moses at the right hand side of Iceland's half to win a free kick for Nigeria
36' Narros miss by Iceland's BJARNASON as Leon Balogun avert the danger in the Super Eagles 18 yard box
30' Kelechi Iheanacho wins free kick at the middle of the park after being fouled by Iceland player, but Etebo's delivery was also wasted
29' Troost-Ekong long range pass was wasted as he didn't target anybody and the ball went out of play
26' Mikel Obi's cross failed to find any Nigerian player in Iceland's box after Ahmed Musa's initial delivery was cleared out by the opposition
- 21' Victor Moses blocked Bjanason's shot to win a corner kick for his side and Uzoho once again came to the rescue of the Eagles
17' Moses tried to connect with Iheanacho in front of Iceland danger box but he missed the pass that could have given Nigeria the lead in this half
16' Iceland are trying to make something out of their build up but Leon Balogun averted the danger as Moses wins throwing for the Super Eagles
14' Iceland have won two back to back throwing as they move closer to the Nigerian danger zone
11' Oghenekaro Etebo wins a foul for the Super Eagles in the midfield and the free kick was quickly taken but Iceland sent the ball out to throwing
9' Iheanacho was brought down at the edge of Iceland danger zone but the referee ignore his cry for a free kick
7' Victor Moses wins corner for Super Eagles after his shot was blocked by Iceland defender
5' Another super save from Nigeria's goalkeeper Francis Uzoho
3' Francis Uzoho saves Sigurdson's superb free kick
2' Iceland with the first free kick in front of Nigeria's 18-yard box
1' Nigeria takes kickoff as they play from left to right in their green and white stripes while Iceland are in their all blue jersey
Nigeria line-up:
23 UZOHO, 2 IDOWU, 4 NDIDI, 5 EKONG, 6 BALOGUN, 7 MUSA, 8 ETEBO, 10 MIKEL, 11 MOSES, 14 IHEANACHO, 22 OMERUO
1 HALLDORSSON, 2 SÆVARSSON, 6 R. SIGURDSSON, 8 BJARNASON, 10 G. SIGURDSSON, 11 FINNBOGASON, 14 ÁRNASON, 17 GUNNARSSON, 18 MAGNÚSSON, 19 GÍSLASON, 22 BÖDVARSSON
Read our match preview below
- The Super Eagles play Iceland in their second Group D game on Friday, June 22
- They will hope to bounce back from their opening group game defeat to Croatia over the weekend
- A win for them will give them a chance to progress to the next round of the tournament
Nigeria have the chance to get their 2018 World Cup campaign back on track when they play Iceland at the Volgograd Arena on Friday, June 22.
The Super Eagles were beaten 2-0 by Croatia in their opening Group D game over the weekend - with Oghenekaro Etebo scoring an own goal, while Real Madrid star Luka Modric sealing the victory for the Croats from the penalty spot.
Iceland on the other hand forced Argentina to a 1-1 draw in their opening group game and will hope they can build up on that performance to ensure they stand a chance of reaching the second round of the competition in their debut appearance.
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Heimir Hallgrímsson's men could line up without Johann Berg Gudmundsson following the injury he sustained during their first game against Argentina.
After the first game, the three time African champions are with no point and they will hope they can turn the table in their favour after today's game.
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Nigeria and Iceland have only met just once in a friendly game and the European team were the better side on the day with a 3-0 victory over the Super Eagles.
Nigeria
- The Super Eagles have won all their five World Cup matches against European sides in their past appearances.
- They have won just one of their last 13 World Cup games (D3, L9), with that victory coming against Bosnia and Herzegovina in 2014.
- Nigeria have failed to progress to the knockout stage on the two occasions they have lost their opening game.
- Nigeria are currently on a World Cup losing streak of three games, their worst run since losing four matches between 1998 and 2002.
- They have failed to score in six of their last 11 World Cup matches.
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Iceland
- Iceland claimed a point in their first ever World Cup clash against Argentina.
- The last side to avoid defeat in their opening two matches were Senegal in 2002.
- FC Augsburg's striker Alfred Finnbogason has scored in his last three appearances for Iceland, though they've failed to win any of those matches (D2, L1).
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Possible line up
Nigeria: Francis Uzoho, Abdullahi Shehu, William Troost-Ekong, Leon Balogun, Brian Idowu, Onyinye Ndidi, Oghenekaro Etebo, Alex Iwobi, John Obi Mikel, Victor Moses, Odion Ighalo
Iceland: Hannes Thor Halldorsson, Birkir Saevarsson, Kari Arnason, Ragnar Sigurdsson, Hoerdur Magnusson, Rurik Gislason, Aron Gunnarsson, Emil Hallfredsson, Birkir Bjarnason, Gylfi Sigurdsson, Alfred Finnbogason.
Legit.ng will bring you live updates of the encounter by 4pm (Nigerian time).
Legit.ng previously reported that Nigeria were beaten 2-0 by Croatia in their opening Group D match.
Ogehenekaro Etebor unfortunately scored an own goal as Mario Manduzkic's flying header came off his foot and the ball rolled into the net to put Croatia ahead.
Gernot Rohr's men did not create a meaningful chance in the first half but came back strongly in the second half. However, Modric sealed victory for Croatia from the spot.
Super Eagles in Russia 2018: The First Taste of Failure - Legit.ng TV
Source: Legit.ng
