France 2 Nigeria 1: Montpellier forward Onumonu scores historic goal for Super Falcons

The Super Falcons lost 2-1 to France in the international friendly fixture played on Saturday night at Stade Raymond Kopa.

France bossed the possession very early on and nearly got rewarded for their dominance when Marie-Antoinette Katoto put the ball home. After a check by the VAR, her effort was ruled out for offside.

Jennifer Echegini got the Super Falcons first shot on target of the game when a French player refused to control the ball properly, and the Paris Saint-Germain midfielder aimed for a goal but was denied by the goalkeeper.

The home side opened the scoring in the 29th minute when Eugénie Le Sommer placed the ball beyond the reach of Chiamaka Nnadozie after receiving a cutback from Katoto.

Wedie Renard came close to getting the second goal for the French, rising to meet a cross but got her effort saved by Nnadozie.

Le Sommer became the provider in the 37th minute, assisting Amel Majri to grab the second goal for the European outfit.

Montpellier star Ifeoma Onumonu pulled one back for the Super Falcons in the first half stoppage-time, chipping the ball over the goalkeeper after receiving a well-weighted pass from Gift Monday to become the first Nigerian to score against France.

The Blues started the second half brightly, seeking to restore their two-goal lead. Two brilliant saves from Nnadozie made sure the scoreline remained the same.

Lou Valérie Bogaert came close to breaching Nnadozie's goal when a pass was put into the penalty area but she couldn't get her effort on target.

Sikiratu Isah almost restored parity for Nigeria in the 79th minute through a lobbed effort which was saved by the French shot-stopper Pauline Peyraud-Magnin.

Six minutes before stoppage time, Christy Ucheibe failed to produce the required precision to put the ball home, blasting her effort over the goal.

Two minutes later, Nnadozie had to produce a world-class save to deny Melvine Malard from extending their lead after a defensive blunder from the Nigerian defence.

Veteran centre-back Osinachi Ohale was shown a second yellow card culminating in her being sent off after she had contested the referee's decision to give Shukurat Oladipo a yellow card.

Abdulkareem Abdulhamid

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