Valery Karpin insisted Russia dominated significant portions of the match and maintained their advantage over Nigeria despite the late draw.
By Kehinde Okeowo
Russia head coach Valery Karpin and his Nigerian counterpart Eric Chelle have disagreed on what led to the 3-3 draw played by their teams in an international friendly encounter in Nizhny Novgorod on Tuesday night.
The Super Eagles opened the scoring in the dramatic encounter as early as the 10th minute through Kelechi Iheanacho.
However, Russia fought back to establish a 3-1 lead thanks to first-half goals from Lechi Sadulaev and Matvey Kislyak, followed by a 54th-minute strike from Aleksey Miranchuk in the second half.
Nigeria refused to back down, with Peter Edokpolor reducing the margin in the 78th minute before Akor Adams completed the comeback with an equalising goal in the fourth minute of added time.
Speaking during his post-match press conference, Chelle acknowledged that Russia delivered a superior performance during the closing stages of the first half and the opening phase of the second half.
The Malian tactician, however, attributed Nigeria’s successful comeback to tactical adjustments, particularly in the forward positions.
“We discovered a solution because tactically we implemented adjustments regarding our strikers. During the final phase of the second half, they failed to find a response, and consequently we scored two goals through transitional play,” Chelle said.
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Reacting, Karpin rejected the Nigerian manager’s assertion that the comeback resulted from substantial tactical modifications.
When asked if he concurred with Chelle’s perspective, the Russia coach responded bluntly: “What tactical changes? He introduced different players, and that was all. What additional tactical changes occurred?”
Asked about Russia’s defensive vulnerabilities after conceding three goals despite holding a two-goal lead late in the match, he attributed the goals to individual errors rather than a systemic tactical deficiency.
“It was an accident. Completely. The first goal – it was evident what transpired. The situation surrounding the third goal was quite peculiar,” the Russia coach stated.
Karpin went on to emphasise that he never felt apprehensive regarding his team’s ability to hold onto the result, asserting that his players sustained their dominance throughout the match.
“No, there was no such concern. We maintained our superiority in the game. We conceded another goal following an error committed by our team during a goal kick,” he concluded.
