African champions Algeria defeated the Super Eagles 1-0 in a friendly after both teams did not play since November 2019 no thanks to the Coronavirus Pandemic.
Algeria had eliminated Nigeria 2-1 in the semifinal of 2019 AFCON in Egypt.
Early pressure by Algeria was rewarded with the opening goal after six minutes, when fullback Ramy Bensebaini followed up a rebound from a header off a corner with the Eagles defence in disarray.
Algeria continued to press forward as Nigeria struggled to settle into the game.
In the 22nd minute, Alex Iwobi fired the first Nigeria shot at the Algerian goal, but his effort screamed wide off target.
Nigeria finished the stronger of the two teams after debutant Zaidu Sanusi’s cross in the 39th minute located Paul Onuachu leading to a corner.
Three minutes later, the FC Porto defender powered forward again and forced a save from Alexandre Oukidja, before Samuel Kalu shot directly at the goalkeeper soon after.
Algeria again started the brighter of the two sides after the restart.
Nigeria continued to give away possession and relied on counter-attacks to really get going.
At the end, the Algerians came out tops.
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Gernot Rohr’s men will meet Tunisia in their next friendly on October 13.
This article was most recently revised and updated 2 years ago
