Nigeria produced a stirring late fightback to draw 3-3 with Russia in Tuesday’s international friendly at the Nizhny Novgorod Stadium, turning what looked like a damaging defeat into a memorable night for Eric Chelle’s experimental side, Footynaija reports.
Iheanacho scored his first goal in three years for Nigeria, while Peter Edokpolor and Akor Adams added the others as the Super Eagles fought back from a two-goal deficit.
Kelechi Iheanacho opened the scoring after 10 minutes, finishing a move created by Abdullahi Bewene to give Nigeria an early lead. It was a significant moment for the Bursaspor forward, who had returned to the Super Eagles squad after missing last month’s Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers.
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Russia responded through Lechii Sadulaev in the 30th minute before Matvey Kislyak struck in first-half stoppage time to send the hosts into the interval 2-1 ahead. Aleksey Miranchuk then stretched Russia’s advantage to 3-1 nine minutes after the restart.
The Super Eagles appeared destined for defeat, particularly after a difficult international window that had already included a 3-0 AFCON qualifying loss to Guinea-Bissau.
Chelle’s squad had also been badly depleted by injuries and club restrictions, leaving several newcomers to shoulder responsibility against a Russian team that had recently demolished Namibia 6-0.
However, debutant Peter Edokpolor changed the mood in the 78th minute, reducing the deficit to 3-2 and giving Nigeria a route back into the contest.
Then came the final twist. Akor Adams struck deep into stoppage time, scoring in the 94th minute to complete an extraordinary comeback and secure a 3-3 draw.
The result gives Chelle a valuable response after the Guinea-Bissau setback and offers Nigeria encouragement from a severely reshaped squad. It also continues the unusual recent rivalry between the teams, following their 1-1 draw in Moscow in June 2025.
