England defeats Eagles 2-1 at Wembley Stadium
England kicked off their road to the 2018 FIFA world cup schedule with a comfortable 2-1 victory over Nigeria in London on Saturday and they look solid in the friendly going to Russia.
First-half goals from Chelsea’s Gary Cahill and Spurs Harry Kane were enough for England to seal a victory over Nigeria.
Alex Iwobi struck soon after the start of the second half, but England were able to see out the win despite lacking the verve they displayed in the first half.
There were plenty of positives for Gareth Southgate to take out of his side’s performance against the not so Super Eagles.
England carved out a 61 per cent share of possession and had control of the game for long periods.
There was a cutting edge to the side with Jesse Lingard and Raheem Sterling causing the Nigeria problems with their pace and movement.
However, there was no disguising how poor the opposition were. The Eagles gave the England team too much respect in the first half. Coming into the second half the team gave a better response.
Two Nigerian players bumped into each other in the first half and do so again in the second half with Kenneth Omeruo coming from behind and clatters into the back of John Ogu’s head.
Line-ups And Stats
England
- 1Pickford
- 4Walker
- 5Stones
- 6Cahill
- 8Dier
- 2Trippier
- 7Lingard Substituted for Loftus-Cheekat 67′minutes
- 11Alli Substituted for Delphat 82′minutes
- 3Young Substituted for Roseat 68′minutes
- 9Kane Substituted for Welbeck at 73′minutes
- 10Sterling Booked at 52mins Substituted for Rashford at 73′minutes
Substitutes
- 12Rose
- 13Butland
- 14Maguire
- 15Delph
- 16Livermore
- 17Loftus-Cheek
- 18Lallana
- 19Vardy
- 20Rashford
- 21Welbeck
- 23Pope
- 24Heaton
Nigeria
- 23Uzoho
- 12ShehuSubstituted for Ebuehi at 45′minutes
- 5Troost-Ekong
- 6BalogunSubstituted for Omeruoat 45′minutes
- 2Idowu
- 17OnaziSubstituted for Etebo at 45′minutes
- 15ObiSubstituted for Ogu at 45′minutes
- 18Iwobi
- 10Mikel
- 11Moses Substituted for Musaat 63′minutes Booked at 77mins
- 9Ighalo Substituted for Iheanachoat 77′minutes
Substitutes
- 1Ezenwa
- 3Echiéjilé
- 4Omeruo
- 7Musa
- 8Etebo
- 13Ndidi
- 14Iheanacho
- 16Akpeyi
- 19Ogu
- 20Awaziem
- 21Ebuehi
- 22Nwankwo
- 26Aina
- 27Agu
Referee:Marco Guida
Attendance:70,025
Source: PSN