It was the best of debuts for George Ilenikhena and Moses Usor as the duo’s strikes saw the Super Eagles come from a goal down to beat Madagascar 2-1, in their first Group L 2027 Africa Cup of Nations in Uyo on Friday, completesport.com reports.
The win means the Super Eagles maintained their AFCON qualifying dominance over Madagascar with four wins and one draw.
Head coach Eric Chelle included Ilenikhena in the starting lineup for his debut while Moses Simon made his 100th appearance.
Also, Stanley Nwabali made his first outing for the Super Eagles since January at the 2025 AFCON in Morocco, while Taiwo Awoniyi and Tolu Arokodare made comebacks to the team after being away.
With the victory, the Eagles are second in Group L while Guinea-Bissau, who beat Tanzania 2-0 away, are top.
Up next for the Eagles is an away fixture against Guinea-Bissau on Tuesday, September 29.
Also Read: AFCON 2027Q: ‘We’re Motivated’ — Madagascar Coach Eyes Positive Result Against Super Eagles
The Super Eagles bossed the early exchanges but the Madagascar backline held firm.
In the 4th minute Wilfred Ndidi had the Super Eagles first attempt but saw his header from close range go just over the bar.
Madagascar then went on the counter but Alex Iwobi made a timely block for a corner.
Madagascar then took a shock lead on 16 minutes as Kari Eshan beat the offside trap to nod home a well taken cross.
In the 25th minute Madagascar captain Rayan Raveloson tried a long range shot but saw his effort go just wide off target.
A minute later Ndidi hit a low left foot shot which went narrowly off target.
On the half hour mark Ndidi had a big chance to make it 1-1 but saw his close range header, from Iwobi’s cross go just over the bar.
The Super Eagles thought they had equalised after Iwobi had the ball in the net but it was ruled out for a foul on the keeper by Akor Adams.
But one into the first half added time Ilenikhena made it 1-1 as he ran on to Iwobi’s through pass and slotted past the keeper.
Just like in the first half, the Super Eagles started the second half on the front foot but could not find a way past the visitors’ backline.
Then in the 51st minute Madagascar almost went in front again after their captain Raveloson was played through on goal but a well composed Nwabali went down to palm the ball off his feet.
Also Read: 2027 AFCONQ: How Super Eagles Fared In Five Recent Matches Against Madagascar
Chelle then made two changes as he brought on Usor and Moses Simon, with the former almost marking his debut with a goal but could not direct a cross towards goal.
But Usor eventual got on the score sheet with a brilliant solo goal. He ran on to the ball on the left, beat two his markers and hit a low left foot strike past the keeper.
Another substitute Tolu Arokodare had a chance to extend the lead on 74 minutes but saw his left foot shot hit the post.
Just four minutes later Awoniyi got on to a pass from the right but his intended cross for Arokodare was stopped by the keeper.
In the 90th minute Iwobi made a run from the left and picked out Simon inside the box but the winger’s left foot strike went way off target.
MATCH STATISTICS
Nigeria 2- 1 Madagascar
GOAL SCORERS: NIGERIA
George Ilenikhena (45+1 min)
Moses Usor (65 mins)
GOAL SCORER: MADAGASCAR
Kari Eshan (16 mins)
LINE-UP: NIGERIA
23 Stanley Nwabali
2 Ola Aina
6 Semi Ajayi
21 Calvin Bassey
3 Bruno Onyemaechi
4 Wilfred Ndidi
17 Alex Iwobi
7 Ademola Lookman
11 Samuel Chukwueze
22 Akor Adams
9 George Ilenikhena
SUBSTITUTES
15 Moses Simon (Akor Adams, 61 mins)
24 Moses Usor (Samuel Chukwueze, 61 mins)
19 Taiwo Awoniyi (George Ilenikhena, 69 mins)
10 Tolu Arokodare (Ademola Lookman, 70 mins)
12 Bright Osayi-Samuel (Ola Aina, 87 mins)
HEAD COACH: Eric Chelle
LINE-UP: MADAGASCAR
1 George Dupire
5 Sandro Tremoulet
11 Ryan Ponti
7 Rayan Raveloson (Capt.)
3 Jean-Pierre Morgan
6 Marco Ilaimaharitra
15 Kari Eshan
10 Ylan El Hadary
14 Clement Couturier
22 Mathieu Acapandie
19 Hakim Abdallah
SUBSTITUTES
9 Warren Caddy (Ylan El Hadary, 67 mins)
4 Nicolas Randriamanampisoa (Clement Couturier, 70 mins)
13 Thomas Fontaine (Ryan Ponti, 70 mins)
18 Roman Ferber (Hakim Abdallah, 84 mins)
17 Loic Lapoussin (Marco Ilaimaharitra, 84 mins)
HEAD COACH: Corentin Martins
By James Agberebi
8 Comments
Going forward, akor Adams,chukwueze, ola Aina should not be starting matches, chukwueze continues to show that he does not deserve a call up, the guy is finished completely, can’t move forward with the ball, can’t cross, can’t dribble , the young usor came on show how an attacker should play, u can’t be an attacker and can’t attack.glad we won finally, kudos to Bassey and Bruno.
Ola Aina had a poor game.We need to see Moses Usor in another game.Sometimes it’s hard to judge players when they come in at a desperate situation.
I think Usor was a bit slow and wasn’t insertive!
Those calling for Moses Simon’s retirement must be embarrassed by his great show in this game.I have said it over and over again,new players coming into the team have to give the kind of performances that will genuinely lead to the older ones getting the back bench or quitting entirely..Just like Frederick made Ekong retire with unbelievable shifts.
God bless you for that shrewd observation. Chukweze’s time with the S.E is Over
. especially with the emergence of young talents like James Ujor, Azeezs and Jodax. We cannot continue to babysit him. He is supposed to be the one mentoring the young talents by one but the reverse is the case, now. Our midfield needs urgent overhauling if we hope to not only qualify but win the next AFCon. At this junction we should be talking about winning the title not participating. Ndidi is not up to the level of playing as a started in SE no4. Iwobi too slow and a poor maker . These two guys are the reason we couldn’t qualify for last 2 world cups but people dont know. Get rid of Ndidi , play iwobi close to the attack . He cannot mark so cannot play deep. Other departments are ok.
Four four two are you for real at all. Thank God you are not the coach
Abeg Ndidi leave strikers alone and face your duty of defending the goal keeper and defence. You don’t have final ball or precise shooting ability. Your shots and headers sucks!!!
Another thing, it is high time for Bassey to be reverted into his preferred left back where he is very dominant at the back and forward when joining the attack from fullback. Bruno is an average link and Ben Fredricks will be a perfect CB to partner Ajayi, we can not be wasting such talent on the bench if we must dominate teams in future.
Finally Coach Chelle should get Nnadi back to SE when fit so he can replace Besiktas bench warmer Ndidi. Nnadi has better combative defensive and attacking attributes to make a winning team thrive.
Congratulations to Nigeria!!!!
Chukwueze and Ndidi are the weakest links in the team. The left wing belongs to crafty and double legg Usor and, Azeez.
Samson Tijani, Nnadi and Tim Iriegbulam can do a better job than Ndidi.
To be honest I’m not impressed with the super eagles performance today.If Eric truly mean business, must do away with the big names mentality and introduce new young players into all the departments of the super eagles especially our midfield. The super eagles need an overhaul in the team ,there’s no need for gradual integration of young and energetic talented players. We can’t continue to recycle the same bunch of players and expect different results. Football has gone beyond big names. I didn’t know any of the Madagascar players before today’s match but they almost disgraced us in our home. Eric Chelle must make hail while the sun shines before it over for him. He should use the Russian match to introduce new talented players even if he doesn’t win the game.
Those calling for the retirement of Moses Simon have been thoroughly vindicated!
See what newbie Usor did today. He did what Moses Simon has not been able to do in 100 caps. If we had Usor during the world cup qualifiers, story for different. Instead of Simon that will play 90 mins, no decent cross into the box, no decent shot at goal, can’t dribble, can’t get in behind his marker, Usor can do all these and more. So can Azeez and Otele.
Moses Simon was good from 2015 to 2020. Then after that, his performance started to nosedive. It was so bad, a forumite once opined that Simon can’t dribble an ant. Perhaps that is an exaggeration, but it portrays the frustration fans feel when they see Simon waste opportunities and put in poor shifts.
The wing position contenders should be young, hungry, fast, fit players. See what a young, hungry, fast, fit Usor did for us today. Can Simon do that? Between 2015 and 2020, the answer would be yes. But now, he is past his prime. He can’t do it.
His die hard supporters should stop deceiving us. We don’t hate him. We just know their are better, younger, fitter, faster options.
We need the best players for every position. There is no room for sentiment or nma Madu.
This is the challenge Chelle needs to overcome. Stop allowing people to influence your selection. Merit must be the decider always!