Nigeria 3-1 Algeria: Ettedem Philip Picks Four Major Points

1 Moses and Etebo were class

Nigeria won but that is largely due to the performance of Victor Moses and Oghenekaro Etebo. This is not discrediting the other players but these players mentioned come in for special mention - Moses got a brace on the day but it wasn't just his goals; his willingness to come back and help the defence out when they were under attack by the Algerians shows how well he has improved under Conte.

Etebo on the other hand was excellent,
playing him as a defensive midfielder was a master stroke by Gernot Rohr as his energy, industry and passing abilities made him a constant threat in the middle especially with his assist for Nigeria's second goal. It was also hard to get past him and the one time they got past him it was no surprise that Algeria pulled a goal back.

2 Iheaneacho needs time

Iheaneacho is one of the most promising youngsters in not only Nigeria but in the world and has churned out good performances for the Super Eagles. If he is to be our centre forward he needs time as it showed against Algeria and he wasn't at his best too .

To be fair to him though he wasn't given the ball in dangerous areas and didn't have an awful lot of chances even though he had one glaring opportunity which he spurned late on, it just shows that he needs to form a little bit more understanding with the team or we could play him as a second striker.

3 The defence needs to be shaped

We might have won Algeria and we were the better team but there is a feeling that if Nabil Bentaleb or Riyad Mahrez had taken any of their chances when they were a goal down the game would have had a different script as the defence yet again had hairy moments as Troost Ekong could not replicate his vintage performance against Zambia and Omeruo was run ragged by Brahimi. It didn't help though that Alex Iwobi was not tracking back - only Leon Balogun and Elderson Echejile came out and surprisingly kept Riyad Mahrez quiet in the game. The defence needs to improve.

4 Depth in the squad

There is depth in that squad when you consider Ighalo or Ideye didn't play at all while Ahmed Musa was an impact substitute coming on and even had an assist for the 3rd goal then Shehu Abdullahi for Kenneth Omeruo at right back and Wilfred Ndidi for Mikel Obi and even a John Ogu was on the bench just shows the level of depth the squad has now.

On a final note I think we need to thank Amaju Pinnick for the appointment of Gernot Rohr, he might have gotten certain things wrong but definitely not this one after the pessimism that trailed his appointment now, all that pessimism has turned to renewed vigour as Nigeria have won 3 straight matches and the signs look good for the future.