Nigeria’s much-changed squad produced one of the more dramatic results of the October window, hauling themselves back from 3-1 down to draw 3-3 with Russia in Nizhny Novgorod.
Kelechi Iheanacho set the tone early, finishing off an Abdullahi Bewene pass in the 10th minute to put Nigeria ahead. Russia hit back through Lechi Sadulaev, who converted a Matvey Kislyak assist on the half-hour, then Kislyak turned provider into scorer himself, snatching a goal in first-half stoppage time to put the hosts 2-1 up at the break.
Nigeria made a double change at the restart, sending on Umar Abubakar for Iheanacho and Akor Adams for Stephen Michael.
It didn’t stop the bleeding immediately Aleksey Miranchuk added a third for Russia in the 54th minute, finishing off a Sobolev pass to make it 3-1 but the substitutions paid off lat
Osayande Edokpolor pulled one back in the 78th minute, and Adams completed the comeback soon after, finishing a pass from fellow substitute Abubakar to make it 3-3 and snatch a point Nigeria looked out of reach of for most of the second half.
This was about as experimental as a Super Eagles lineup gets. Several senior players sat this one out entirely, pulling out over injuries, club pushback and visa issues, which left Chelle fielding a group heavy on fringe and uncapped players against a Russia side riding a six-goal thrashing of Namibia days earlier.
Coming back from two goals down against that kind of form says something about the fight in this squad, even in a friendly nobody will remember.
Iheanacho’s early goal continues his hot scoring streak since his recall, and the Adams-Abubakar combination for the equaliser gives Chelle a genuine selection headache to think about a good one, for once heading into the next window.
This was Nigeria’s final fixture of the October international break. Attention now shifts to November, when the Super Eagles face Tanzania home and away in a double-header that could define their 2027 AFCON qualifying campaign in Group L, where they currently sit on three points behind Guinea-Bissau’s six.
