Super Eagles put in spirited performance as they beat Poland 1-0 thanks to Moses penalty

NIGERIA'S Super Eagles have the first of their March double header friendlies after beating Poland 1-0 tonight at the Stadion Miejski in the city of Wroclaw thanks to a 60th minute penalty from Chelsea winger Victor Moses.

As part of the teams' preparations for this summer's World Cup, Nigeria lined up two games against Poland and Serbia this month. In the first game today, the team beat the Poles in a spirited performance and now look forward to the second match against Serbia taking place at Barnet's The Hives Stadium in north London on March 27.

Tonight the Eagles held off a battling Polish side that came at them aggressively but managed to keep a clean sheet. Among the most heroic standout heroes on the night were Francis Uzoho, William Ekong, Wilfred Ndidi, Joel Obi, Victor Moses and Odion Ighalo.

Nigeria started off the game very brightly, forcing the Poles on to the back foot and made their defence make a hasty clearance in the sixth minute. However, Poland hit back, creating a chance in the seventh minute as a brilliant low cross from the left wing was met by Bayern Munich striker Robert Lewandoskwi, whose effort hit the crossbar.

Immediately after that the Eagles hit back though with good footwork by Arsenal's Alex Iwobi from the right flank. He whipped in a good cross but unfortunately no Eagle was on hand to get unto the end of the ball.

After this, Chelsea's Victor Moses came into the game a bit and was brought down for a foul in the 16th minute. From there on, the game got a big scrappy with a lot of fouls in midfield, which resulted in defender Jacek Goralski having to come in for the injured Karol Linetty.

Enjoying physical superiority, the Eagles kept a high line marking, hoping to catch out the Poles on the counter-attack but the Polish defence held firm. As the half wore on though, Poland grew in confidence and in the 27th minute won a corner kick that was headed wide by defender Kamil Glik.

As the game wore on, in the 33rd minute, Nigeria came close to scoring again after Victor Moses took a freekick that came close to troubling the Polish goalkeeper but went just a few inches wide. After that, Poland took control for the rest of the half and a decent delivery almost found its way to the bottom right corner leaving goalkeeper Francis Uzoho screaming at his defence over the lack of communication at the back.

In the 42nd minute, Poland scored what looked like a goal as the ball appeared to cross the line before being cleared by Leon Balogun but the English referee Michael Oliver and his assistants refused to give it. Now taking charge of the game, Poland came close again as Lewandoski, who skippered the team on the night let fly but Uzoho parried it out for a corner.

Poland stepped up the pressure and in the dying minutes of the half, the Poles had two corner kicks in quick succession but Uzoho, now settling into the game, dealt with them decisively. Nigeria ended the half with one last attack but a poor cross from righback Shehu Abdullahi was block by Linetty.

Following the restart, Poland took control of the game, dominating early possession and nearly scored in the 56th minute by were denied by Uzoho's heroics. Lewandowski was in a one-on-one situation with the goalkeeper but Uzoho made himself big to parry the shot from the Bayern marksman.

In the 57th minute, Joel Obi went into referee Oliver's book for his foul on a Polish midfielder. A minute later, head coach Gernot Rohr made his first substitution, bringing on Ahmed Musa for Iwobi.

After that, the decisive moment came as Moses danced his way into the Polish penalty area and was brought down by a clumsy challenge. He dusted himself, got up and coolly despatched the ball into the bottom left hand corner for the only goal of the game.

Now a goal behind, Poland pressed forward for an equaliser and came close to getting one in the 65th mute when Artur Jedrzejczyk headed a superb cross from a freekick just wide above the top angle of the crossbar. Mr Rohr subsequently brought on Ogenyi Onazi to replace Joel Obi after this to save the Torino midfielder from getting another booking.

In the 68th minute Jakub Swierczok replaced Lewandoski and came close to scoring with his first touch but played the ball just wide. After this, Rohr made further changes bringing on Kenneth Omeruo for Leon Balogun in the 78th minute, Tyronne Ebuehi for the injured Shehu Abdullahi in the 77th minute and John Ogu for Kelechi Iheanacho in the 81st minute.

From then onwards, Poland poured forward in search of an equaliser by the Eagles defence well marshalled by superb skipper William Ekong, held firm. Uzoho was also immense, punching away all the crosses into the area and gathering all the ball played in over the top.

With a minute to go, Simon Moses came on for Odion Ighalo. before the final whistle though, the Eagles had one last chance as Ahmed Musa missed a well timed pass by Onazi that would have left him one on one with the Polish goalkeeper.

Line-up

Uzoho

Abdullahi (Ebuehi)

Idowu

Ekong

Balogun (Omeruo)

Ndidi

Joel (Onazi)

Iheanacho (Ogu)

Iwobi (Musa)

Igalo (Simon)

Moses