Nigeria were beaten 1-0 by Ecuador during International friendly match at Red Bull Arena in New Jersey, USA.
Nigeria’s Super Eagles fell to a slim 1-0 defeat to World Cup-bound Ecuador in their friendly encounter at the Red Bull Arena, Harrison, New Jersey on Friday morning.
The starting lineup for Nigeria was the same as the one that started in the 2-1 loss to Mexico, except for the inclusion of Sani Faisal who came on for the injured Innocent Bonke. Cyril Dessers and Terem Moffi started in attack, with Simon Moses and Alex Iwobi supporting on the flanks
The Super Eagles dominated the game afterwards and were denied a penalty on 12 minutes when Terem Moffi was upended inside the box by Ecuador goalkeeper, Alexander Dominguez. 15 minutes later, Alex Iwobi picked out Cyreil Dessers with a delightful pass in the 28th minute but the Genk striker wasted a glorious chanced to equalize for Nigeria by firing straight at goalkeeper Alexander Dominguez who parried the ball out of danger.
Emmanuel Dennis who came off the bench in place of Sani Faisal missed a gilt-edged chance in the 58th minute after a good cross into the opposition box by Calvin Bassey. Joe Aribo was close to restoring parity when he let fly a shot from 25 yards four minutes later but his effort was saved by Alexander Dominguez.
William Troost-Ekong made a vital block that denied the Ecuadorians a possible second goal eight minutes from time.
Ecuador came out firing and opened the scoring as Estupinan gave the South Americans the lead in the second minute from a free-kick. The ball caught both Super Eagle players Chidozie Awaziem and Faisal Sani off guard as Estupinan crept in behind the pair to head past goalkeeper Francis Uzoho.
In what was coach Peseiro’s second outing with the squad, Nigeria lost 2-1 to Mexico in their first game in Dallas on Saturday.
The match against the Ecuadorians is a disappointing result before the Super Eagles tackle the Leone Stars of Sierra Leone at the MKO Abiola National Stadium, Abuja in their opener to 2023 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying series.
