Nigeria’s Super Eagles produced a dramatic late comeback to force Russia into a 3-3 draw on Tuesday, recovering from two goals down to snatch a point in a thrilling encounter at the Sovcombank Arena in Nizhny Novgorod.

The result ended Russia’s four-match winning run and left coach Valery Karpin frustrated after his side appeared to have the game under control.

Nigeria fell 3-1 behind early in the second half, but Peter Edokpolor pulled one back in the 78th minute before Akor Adams completed the comeback with a stoppage-time equaliser.

The draw also ended a remarkable run for Russia, who had not conceded three goals in a single international match since their 4-1 defeat to Denmark at Euro 2020 in June 2021.

Nigeria refuse to give up

The Super Eagles started brightly and took the lead in the 10th minute through Kelechi Iheanacho.

Russia responded through Lechi Sadulaev, who levelled the contest before Matvey Kislyak put the hosts ahead in first-half stoppage time.

Alexei Miranchuk then appeared to put Russia in control when he made it 3-1 nine minutes into the second half.

But Nigeria refused to fold.

Edokpolor’s effort in the 78th minute gave the Super Eagles renewed belief. His shot took a deflection off Kislyak before finding its way past goalkeeper Alexander Maksimenko.

Russia still looked set to hold on until the final moments.

Then, in the fourth minute of added time, Umar Abdullahi found space and delivered the ball to Adams, who finished past Maksimenko to complete Nigeria’s remarkable comeback.

Karpin dismisses Russia’s collapse

Despite conceding three goals, Karpin played down the significance of the defensive collapse, describing the goals as an “accident” while pointing to individual errors.

The Russian coach was particularly critical of the mistakes that allowed Nigeria back into the game after his team had established a two-goal advantage.

Karpin also insisted that he never felt Russia were losing control of the match after Nigeria reduced the deficit.

Instead, he argued that his players continued to dominate but failed to deal with crucial moments properly.

His frustration was understandable. Russia had entered the game on the back of consecutive clean-sheet victories over Iran and Namibia and had scored 14 goals without conceding during a four-game winning streak.

Nigeria brought that run to an abrupt end.

Chelle’s young Super Eagles show character

The comeback was even more significant given the experimental nature of Nigeria’s team.

With several established players unavailable, including Victor Osimhen, Wilfred Ndidi, Calvin Bassey and Ademola Lookman, head coach Eric Chelle gave opportunities to a largely inexperienced squad.

Nine players made their Super Eagles debuts, while 12 members of the squad were under the age of 23.

The young side faced a difficult situation after falling 3-1 behind but showed enough character to fight their way back into the contest.