INTERNATIONAL FRIENDLY: Nigeria 2-2 Scotland

A last-minute strike from Uche Nwofor
secured Nigeria a 2-2 draw against Scotland
in their international friendly at Craven
Cottage.
Scotland took the lead after just 10 minutes
when Charlie Mulgrew diverted James
Morrison's strike beyond goalkeeper Austin
Ejide with an improvised back-heel which
looped into the back of the net.
Grant Hanley found himself involved at both
ends when his header was disallowed for a
shove on Ejide, before his deflection took
Michael Uchebo's effort past Allan McGregor
as Nigeria pulled level before the break.
Gordon Strachan's side then found retook the
lead when Azubuike Egwuekwe put Alan
Hutton's cross through his own net under the
close watch of James Morrison, but Nwofor
fired in a late equaliser following some
lacklustre defending.
Reports in the build-up were dominated by
allegations that the National Crime Agency,
which investigates serious and organised
crime, asked FIFA to issue an alert over
attempts to fix the game at Craven Cottage.
The match went ahead despite those claims,
which are understood to be under police
investigation, and few could have foreseen the
goals that punctuated the Tartan Army's 2-2
draw with the African champions.
There was a fantastic atmosphere at Craven
Cottage, with the noise going up a further few
decibels after just four minutes as Ikechi Anya
broke behind the Nigeria defence.
Latching onto a fine ball forwards from
Morrison, the Watford flyer saw his goal-
bound strike graze the far post after a slight
deflection off Kunle Odunlami.
Scotland would not have to wait long to beat
goalkeeper Austine Ejide, though, thanks to a
mixture of quick thinking and luck on
Mulgrew's behalf, meeting a 20-yard Morrison
strike with a flick which looped into the top-
right corner.
The Tartan Army were standing firm and, after
the returning Shaun Maloney saw a hopeful
30-yard strike fly over, looked to have doubled
their advantage when Hanley leapt to meet a
corner, only for referee Lee Probert to chalk
the goal off for a foul on Ejide.
The Nigeria goalkeeper was fortunate to see
that goal scrapped after his feeble attempt to
gather and was almost caught out again when
Maloney whipped in a cross from the right
shortly afterwards.
Scotland were still in the ascendancy at this
point but were caught cold as the Africans got
a lucky goal of their own, with Uchebo
bursting through the middle and hitting a 25-
yard strike that deflected in off Hanley.
Shola Ameobi hooked a volley goalwards and
struck wide before the break, with the recently
released Newcastle man continuing to
struggle in front of goal when play resumed.
A wicked deflection saw the ball fall into his
path just four minutes after the restart, only for
the big striker to be denied from close range
by McGregor's feet.
With Nigeria having failed to clear their lines,
Alan Hutton sent in a low cross from the right
and Egwuekwe directed past his own
goalkeeper under pressure from Morrison.
Having seen Scotland bring on Derby's Chris
Martin for his debut at half-time, Keshi
introduced Nosa Igiebor and Stoke's Peter
Odemwingie, who had not represented his
country since February 2012.
The substitutes linked up immediately and the
latter's low strike smothered by McGregor,
before Scotland celebrated a third - only for
the offside flag to see Maloney's close-range
effort from Hutton's low cross cancelled out.
Martin stung the palms of Ejide in a bid to add
to the 25 goals he scored for Derby this
campaign as Nigeria struggled to make a
telling impact.
Victor Moses hit a fizzing 20-yard strike over
and Nwofor missed two headers of differing
difficulty, before finally finding the net.
Gordon Greer hit the deck in a challenge with
Nwofor, who reacted quickly when the ball
came back into the box to fire past McGregor
from an acute angle.