Nigeria 1-2 Argentina: Marcos Rojo strikes late to reach round of 16

The Manchester United defender volleyed home Gabriel Mercardo's right-wing cross four minutes from time to book a knock-out clash against France.

Nigeria had been on the verge of progressing instead after Victor Moses' penalty early in the second half had cancelled out Lionel Messi's first goal of the tournament.

In the face of mounting criticism due to his nation being on the brink of elimination, Argentina coach Jorge Sampaoli had not only changed his attire to a more conventional tracksuit but had also made five changes.

Willy Caballero, whose blunder gifted Croatia their opening goal in the 3-0 loss last week, and Sergio Aguero were two of the fall guys while Rojo, Angel Di Maria and Ever Banega were among those brought in.

And it was Banega, making his first start in Russia, who produced the assist for Messi's 14th-minute opener.

The Sevilla midfielder lofted a beautiful pass over Kenneth Omeruo, though from there it was all Messi. He cushioned the ball on his thigh and created space with a deft left-footed touch before firing into the far corner with his right.

It sent the crowd, including Diego Maradona, into delirium and at that point the two-time winners were heading through thanks to Messi's magic.

The Barcelona forward looked in the mood, with a terrific pass into Gonzalo Higuain's path deserving more than the striker's weak attempted chip over Francis Uzoho.

Messi looked capable of doing it by himself regardless and he almost scored again with a free-kick that Uzoho's fingertips pushed onto the post.

Sampaoli's side were 45 minutes from progression but they were back on the verge of going out shortly after the resumption.

They were architects of their own downfall too. Three Argentinian defenders converged on the ball and conceded a needless corner, from which Javier Mascherano, with both of his hands on Leon Balogun at the near post, was adjudged to have hauled his man down.

Moses confidently placed the spot-kick to the opposite way Argentina's debutant goalkeeper Franco Armani dived and Nigeria were back in pole position for the group's runners-up berth.

Sampaoli called for Cristian Pavon, who made a positive impression, and Maximiliano Meza, whose impact was far less great, as Aguero and Paulo Dybala waited on the bench.

A second Nigeria goal would have killed off Argentina's hopes and ex-Watford striker Odion Ighalo spurned a glorious opportunity when volleying wide.

The Super Eagles wanted a spot-kick for a handball against Rojo prior to the ball dropping to Igahlo, and though VAR looked at the incident again, no penalty was given as the defender headed against his arm.

Aguero then came on, but not for Higuain, who stabbed a clear opening way over.

Ighalo saw another try saved by Armani and Oghenekaro Etebo's free-kick went into the side netting as Nigeria missed chances to seal their progression.

And it proved costly as Rojo, of all people, won it four minutes from time.

He was way out of position when Mercardo's cross came into the box, but all of Argentina was glad he was there as Rojo steered a first-time finish into the corner to spare his country's blushes.

Opta facts

• Argentina have qualified from the World Cup group stages for the fourth consecutive tournament (2006, 2010, 2014 and 2018).
• Argentina are unbeaten in their last 40 World Cup games when opening the scoring (W35 D5), since a 1-3 defeat against Germany in 1958.
• Nigeria have now been eliminated in the group stages in three of their last four World Cup campaigns (2002, 2010 and 2018).
• Nigeria have lost all six of their games against South American sides at the World Cup, with five of those coming at the hands of Argentina (in 1994, 2002, 2010, 2014 and 2018).
• Lionel Messi’s first half goal for Argentina ended a run of 662 minutes without a goal in the World Cup – his last goal came in June 2014, also against Nigeria.
• Lionel Messi (2006, 2014 and 2018) is the third Argentina player to have scored in three different World Cup tournaments, alongside Diego Maradona (1982, 1986 and 1994) and Gabriel Batistuta (1994, 1998 and 2002).
• 50% of Lionel Messi’s goals at the World Cup have been scored against Nigeria (3/6), including each of his last three in the competition.
• Argentina’s opener in the 14th minute was the 100th goal scored at the 2018 World Cup.
• Argentina’s Lionel Messi completed seven dribbles in this match – those seven dribbles took him to 107 completed at the World Cup, the most of any player since 1966, overtaking Diego Maradona, who previously had the most with 105.
• Marcos Rojo’s goal was his second for Argentina at the World Cup, while his previous one also came against Nigeria – 1,462 days ago at the 2014 tournament.
• The average age of Argentina’s starting XI was 30 years and 189 days; their oldest for a World Cup game in competition history.

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