Osimhen disappointment, Iwobi MOTM: Nigeria vs Rwanda player ratings

The Super Eagles successfully completed the first of two must-win games in their World Cup qualifying window, with the 1-0 victory over Rwanda at the Godswill Akpabio Stadium in Uyo. 

Pulse Sports monitored the game, and we bring you the Nigerian players' scorecard for the crucial clash against the Amavubi of Rwanda, which moved Eric Chelle’s side to third, within five points of group leaders South Africa. 

The Chippa United shot-stopper barely got called into action, but his rating, for the purpose of this article, took a hit because of his attitude in the match. 

He was exceedingly aggressive, clearly rattled by the efforts of the Rwandan attackers to get under his skin. Also, he showed poor ball distribution, hardly inspiring confidence. 

The Nottingham Forest man did grow into the game and showed initiative in the second half, but it was hardly enough to make up for his anonymous first 45 minutes. 

He looked leggy at times and did not make up the yards when it was his responsibility to overlap, providing width in the first half. 

The Brentford loanee was making only his second appearance for the Super Eagles, tasked with filling the humongous boots of Troost Ekong. 

While he was hardly called into question defensively, he looked confident, stable and brave, especially on the ball, contributing to how well the Super Eagles played out of the back. 

The Fulham player of the year was the leader in defence today, and he took his role seriously. He flexed his physical dominance over Rwandan forwards on occasion and was also integral in the Super Eagles' build-up. 

Bruno was one of the figures tasked with overloading the left flank in the first half. He showed offensive initiative and put in a few decent crosses in the box. 

In the second half he was required to be more conservative, slotting into the left side of the makeshift back three, and he interpreted the role adequately. 

Besiktas's new midfielder was his usual steely self in midfield. In addition, he also controlled the game from deep. He played the full 90 minutes, and even when he looked leggy, he clamped down space to help the Super Eagles protect the three points.

The Fulham midfielder carried his form from this Premier League season into this match and played the most important role in ensuring the Super Eagles were victorious in Uyo. 

Iwobi was everywhere. In the first half, he was playmaker in chief, playing incisive passes which dared the attackers to do. In the second half he had a quarterback role and interpreted it with aplomb.

Onyeka had a mediocre performance; however, it was largely due to the setup. With the Super Eagles evidently overloading the left flank in the first half, Onyeka, as the right midfielder in the 4-4-2 diamond, was left isolated, with Aina providing little support down that flank. He was yanked off at half-time. 

The new Paris FC man was Nigeria’s most lively attacker. He beat his man when tasked on multiple occasions and got his shot off at least twice. Also, he was robbed of an assist as a Victor Osimhen goal was chopped off for offside in contentious circumstances, with no VAR to cross-check the lineman's work. 

Lookman was very lively as well and picked up interesting positions in the game. He would have shared a similar rating as Simon, but his shooting was uncharacteristically imprecise. He also missed a telling chance. 

The Galatasaray man found the back of the net but saw his effort ruled out due to a contentious offside call. Other than that, he hardly affected the game before he was disappointingly substituted out after an unfortunate injury in the 35th minute.

The Panathinaikos man was Victor Osimhen's replacement and was largely anonymous during the contest. He had a chance to seal the result for the Super Eagles with a counter-attacking move late in the game, but the lethargic Dessers got dispossessed. 

The match winner came on as a halftime substitute, replacing the ineffective Frank Onyeka and was a thorn in the side of the Amavubi defence for the rest of the game. 

He used his frame to perfection, winning aerial balls and holding up play when the Super Eagles sat back to soak pressure. As stated, he had the most telling contribution in the game, his 51st-minute goal, borne out of sheer willpower.

The Lazio man was tasked with replacing Lookman after Eric Chelle must have noticed that the CAF POTY was picking up good positions but finishing off his actions poorly. However, Fisayo added little to no potency to the Super Eagles' attack, firing his one shot way off the mark. He did add energy to the midfield, however.