Guinea Bissau vs Nigeria: Player ratings, analysis

Super Eagles player ratings vs Guinea-Bissau: Omeruo shines, Aribo struggles, Lookman impresses off the bench.

 

Victor Osimhen celebrates with Moses Simon after Nigeria took the lead against Guinea Bissau. It ended 1-0 in favor of Nigeria. (Photo credit: TheNFF)

The Super Eagles of Nigeria limped to a 1-0 win over Guinea-Bissau on Monday at the ongoing Africa Cup of Nations. It wasn’t a stellar performance, but it was enough to get them over the line to the round of 16.

Coach Jose Peseiro tweaked his line-up with fatigue setting in, and we look at how every player who wore the Super Eagles shirt fared against Guinea-Bissau.

How did the Super Eagles line up? We look at player ratings for the game.

GK: Stanley Nwabali, 8/10

Once again, I am confident in my goal. He made a couple of saves, protected his area, and organized his defense quite well.

RB: Ola Aina, 7.5/10

The Nottingham Forest fullback was caught napping on the ball a couple of times. He was Nigeria’s most creative force, a little too relaxed on the ball, but he was once again instrumental to the goal Nigeria scored.

LB: Bright Osayi, 5/10

His cameo against Ivory Coast was not an inspiring one, and he didn’t do much to change the narrative as he was handed the starting shirt over Zaidu. He was the weakest link in defense and could do a lot better.

RCB: Semi Ajayi, 7/10

He was a rock, led the line in the absence of William Troost Ekong, and progressed the ball when he had the chance to. He was brave with passes, but he gave away too many of them.

CB: Kenneth Omeruo, 8.5/10

The Turkey-based man came in for Ekong, and he did his bit. He was solid and helped the country protect the clean sheet.

LCB: Calvin Bassey, 7/10

Again, he was deployed as an LCB, and he did his bit. He was mobile and defensively solid. He was one of the best players in the game, despite his time-wasting booking.

LCM: Joe Aribo, 5/10

Joe Aribo came in for Alex Iwobi and was anonymous for most of the game. He didn’t create enough chances and was caught on the ball too many times.

RCM: Frank Onyeka, 7/10

He had so much work to do as he played alongside Aribo, who didn’t help him with much. Onyeka intercepted quite well and launched good long balls.

LWF: Moses Simon, 5/10

Against an opposition like Guinea-Bissau, you’d expect Moses Simon to dominate his flank, but he was nothing close to that; he didn’t impose himself and only got away from his defender once.

RWF: Samuel Chukwueze, 5/10

It was also a poor outing for the AC Milan winger. Chukwueze has regressed and should not be starting a serious game for Nigeria.

ST: Victor Osimhen, 7/10

Victor Osimhen tops the chart for big chances missed in this tournament, but he has been instrumental in all the goals Nigeria scored. He scored the goal against Equatorial Guinea, won the penalty against CIV, and forced his own goal, which handed Nigeria the win over GB. He was active throughout the game.

Substitutes:

Raphael Onyedika came in for Frank Onyeka and was impressive in midfield. He won tackles and distributed quite well.

Alex Iwobi did more in less than 25 minutes than Joe Aribo did in well over an hour. The Fulham midfielder created good chances and had a fine work rate.

Ademola Lookman was impressive from the left when he came on. He should be starting in the knockout phase.

Zaidu Sanusi came on and found the back of the net, but his goal was ruled out due to a handball by Osimhen in the build-up.

 Chigozie Awaziem came in too late to be rated.