Adams scores late leveller in six-goal thriller

In a thrilling 3-3 draw, Nigeria's Eric Chelle's men came from behind twice to secure a hard-fought point against Russia in an international friendly at the Nizhny Novgorod Stadium. The result provided a positive note for Chelle's side following their shocking 3-0 defeat to Guinea-Bissau in a 2027 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier.

Chelle began the match by fielding nine debutants and rotating his squad, with only six players having previously featured for Nigeria. Moses Simon, Kelechi Iheanacho, Benjamin Fredricks, Emmanuel Fernandez, Abdullahi Bewene, and Aderemi Adeoye were among the starters. An early goal from Iheanacho in the 11th minute gave Nigeria the lead, but Russia equalized through Lechi Sadulaev on the half-hour mark.

Matvey Kislyak put Russia ahead nine minutes into the second half. Chelle made changes in response, and the substitutions paid off almost immediately. Peter Edokpolor scored a goal in the 78th minute, followed by Umar Abdullahi's near-miss five minutes earlier. With Nigeria pushing for an equalizer, Chelle introduced Vince Osuji for Chibuzo Nwoko in the last moments of the game.

Fernandez's long header in stoppage time set up a counter-attack, and substitute Akor Adams scored a dramatic 94th-minute leveller to secure a point for Nigeria.