Nigeria 4-4 Sierra Leone Ratings: Rohr’s game management called into question again

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It was a cataclysmic occurrence of great proportions as the Super Eagles gave away a 4-0 lead to draw 4-4 against the Leone Stars of Sierra Leone on Friday at the Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium.

The match saw the return of Oghenekaro Etebo and Joe Aribo to the midfield while Kevin Akpoguma made his competitive debut but the echoing question from the match was game management by the national team manager, Gernot Rohr.

Name	Mins.	Performance	Rating
Maduka Okoye	90	Maybe he could have done more for the fourth goal but the Sparta Rotterdam goalkeeper was assured when he needed to be and did not make any meaningful save in the first half.	5/10
Kevin Akpoguma	90	Culpable for the third goal as he allowed the cross even though the central defenders could have done more to prevent Alhaji Kamara’s header.	5/10
William Troost-Ekong	90	Troost-Ekong should be doing better at communicating danger to his younger partner, Ajayi, as the Eagles defence looked ragged in the closing stages of the encounter.	4/10
Leon Balogun	62	When he left the pitch after 62 minutes because of some knocks, the Eagles were leading 4-1. Maybe the team could have hung on with his experience in the last stages of the encounter.	6/10
Zaidu Sanusi	66	His cross for the team’s second goal was a peach and he looked menacing for all of 90 minutes but he soured that good performance by being ahead of Iwobi when the Eagles were defending a 4-3 lead.	6/10
Oghenekaro Etebo	90	For 60 minutes, he bossed the midfield – shutting down the leone Stars and initiating various attacks then he went AWOL. Totally bypassed in the last 15 minutes of the game as he could not help his defence stem the bleeding.	5/10
Joe Aribo	90	Also, very culpable as his doodling on the ball led to the second Sierra Leone goal. He didn’t take as much care of his forward passes as he normally would and played within himself.	4/10
Alex Iwobi	90	With a brace, Iwobi was looking like the man of the match until he had a rush of blood to the head and carelessly gave the ball away for the Sierra Leoneans to strike a fourth goal.	6/10
Samuel Chukwueze	78	Scored a beauty but chiefly culpable for the fightback from the Sierra Leoneans. Looking to do the complicated when the simple would have sufficed.	5/10
Victor Osimhen	90	Fought all match long until the late injury and just like that it seemed the spark of the Eagles was dimmed. Looks unlikely to feature in Freetown next Tuesday.	6.5/10
Ahmed Musa (©	62	The captain is looking like excess luggage to the Eagles. The newly-released player tried to get into the game by playing in midfield but maybe the team could have used his leadership acumen to hold on to all three points.	5/10
Substitutes
Semi Ajayi	28	Came on for the injured Balogun after 62 minutes and was a conspicuous part of the fallout.	5/10
Kelechi Iheanacho	28	Tried to drag the Eagles ahead after the Sierra Leoneans had equalised but his best efforts were not enough.	5/10
Chidera Ejuke	12	Not enough to help his team over the line.	5/10
Manager
Gernot Rohr		There have been off days for Gernot Rohr and his team, but he was terribly let down by some experienced Super Eagles players on Friday. That does not take away from the fact that the German has over time shown a lack of game management. He will need all his psychological powers to raise his players’ morale as they head to Freetown to seal qualification for the 2021 Nations Cup tournament.	4/10