Nigeria Vs Serbia Player Rating: How Did The Super Eagles Players Perform?
The Super Eagles of Nigeria locked horns with the Orlovi (the Eagles) of Serbia in an international friendly match on Tuesday night.
A brace by Fulham striker Aleksandar Mitrovic in the 68th and 81st made all the difference for the Orlovi of Serbia, helping them to claim a comfortable 2-0 victory over the wingless Super Eagles of Nigeria at the 5,000 capacity Hive Stadium in London.
The former Newcastle United misfit Aleksandar Mitrovic ran riot around the central defensive partnership of William Troost Ekong and Chidozie Awaziem, the Nigerian Super Eagles as a bunch were clueless all night and lacked cohesion all through the match, but how well or badly did each Super Eagles player perform?
Allnigeriafootball.com provides an answer to the question by rating the performance of each Super Eagles player in Tuesday’s night 2-0 international friendly lost against Serbia in London.
Goal Keeper
Francis Uzoho: Rating – 5/10
The 19-year-old Deportivo La Coruna youngster was jittery at the start of the match and almost gifted Serbia an early goal by fumbling a tame header by Aleksander Mitrovic over the line, luckily the referee and linesman did not see the ball cross the line. Uzoho, however, Pulled off a string of fine saves especially in the first half to keep Nigeria in the game. He cannot be blamed for the two goals scored by Mitrovic because he was badly exposed.
Defenders
Tyronne Ebuehi: Rating – 4/10
The right-back did not cover himself in glory, he offered quite little going forward and was always second best when he came up against the rampaging Filip Kostic who provided the two assist for Aleksander Mitrovic’s goals.
William Troost Ekong: Rating – 4/10
He didn’t quite play to his usual standard in the absence of his regular central defensive partner Leon Balogun who missed the game through illness. He was caught out of position for the first goal and did not co-ordinate the defence well enough.
Chidozie Awaziem: Rating – 3/10
He had a game to forget, his positioning and marking were extremely poor for both goals. He was completely torn apart by Aleksander Mitrovic and on the evidence of Tuesday night’s performance against Serbia, he is miles away from being a World Cup material.
Brian Idowu: Rating – 4/10
The Amkar Perm of Russia left-back did not show improvement in performance compared to the last match against Poland. He was static all night and offered no offensive threat but defended decently when he was called to duty. I’m yet to be convinced that he is the solution to our left-back troubles, he was replaced by Ola Aina in the 85th minute.
Midfielders
Wilfred Ndidi: Rating – 4/10
Ndidi had a below average performance judging by his excellent displays this season, he was out played by the duo of Nemanja Matic and Luka Milivojevic in the midfield. Ndidi’s passing accuracy and ball distribution were highly erratic. We need the real Ndidi back if we are to do well at the World Cup in June. He was replaced by Mikel Agu in the 85th minute.
Joel Obi: Rating – 3/10
He failed woefully to fill the gaping void created by the absence of Captain John Mikel Obi, he was dreadful, to say the least. He lacked creativity and wasted promising building ups through atrocious passing and poor ball distribution. Joel Obi is hundreds of miles away from being the man to be called upon in the absence of Mikel, he seems not to have learned anything playing in the Seria A all these years. he was substituted for Moses Simon in the 77th minute.
Ogenyi Onazi: Rating – 5/10
He was energetic and full of running all night but failed to live up to the challenge and standard offered by the duo of Nemanja Matic and Luka Milivojevic in the midfield. He was replaced by John Ogu in the 77th minute.
Attackers
Alex Iwobi: Rating – 5/10
He was lively and thrilled the crowd with some fancy foot works. He tried putting the opponent’s defence under pressure with some direct running into the 18-yard box but just like I said in the last match against Poland, his final balls or deliveries into the opponent’s vital areas leaves much to be desired. He was replaced by Junior Ajayi in the 88th minute.
Victor Moses: Rating – 5/10
He was a bit of worry for the Serbia central defensive partnership of Matija Nastasic and Branislav Ivanovic in the first half, he had the only shot on target for Nigeria in the first 45 minutes. He was replaced by Odion Ighalo in the 46th minute.
Ahmed Musa: Rating – 4/10
He was starved of the ball most times and was left isolated in the attack due to poor service from Joel Obi. He failed to provide the kind of attacking threat needed to trouble the Serbia defence and was switched back to the wings in the second half. He tried a few trademark runs into the opponent’s vital area in the second half but it yielded little dividends.
Substitutes
John Ogu: Rating – 4/10
His first notable contribution to the game was picking up an unnecessary yellow, he offered nothing special in the few minutes on the pitch. He replaced Ogenyi Onazi in the 77th minute.
Odion Ighalo: Rating – 5/10
He came in for Victor Moses in the 46th minute of the game, he looked more lively and threatening than Ahmed Musa as the top striker and he came close to scoring for Nigeria on a number of occasions.
Moses Simon: Rating – 4/10
He came on for Joel Obi in the 77th minute, he didn’t make any contribution worthy of mention. He ballooned the ball into the crowd when he had a good opportunity to shot at the edge of the Serb’s vital area late in the match after a Nigerian corner kick.
Ola Aina: Rating–?
Mikel Agu: Rating–?
Junior Ajayi: Rating – ?
Ola Aina, Mikel Agu, and Junior Ajayi barely had time to make an impact on the pitch, hence the trio is not rated for the match.
