An own goal from Oghenekaro Etebo and a Luka Modric penalty helped Croatia ease to a 2-0 victory over Nigeria.
Below are four talking points from the game at the Kaliningrad Stadium.
1. Comfortable evening’s work for Croatia
If you were to look at the goals alone, this may not seem like an overly convincing performance from Croatia. Zlatko Dalic’s men are certainly capable of more, but they were easily the better team on Saturday night and could have gone up a couple of gears had they needed to.
Luka Modric and Ivan Rakitic controlled the tempo of the game in midfield, while Andrej Kramaric popped up menacingly between the lines and Ivan Perisic and Ante Rebic offered thrust out wide. There was good variety to their attacks, although they will probably have to raise their game against Argentina and Iceland.
2. Flat Nigeria extremely disappointing
Gernot Rohr has refreshed this Nigeria side and added a much-needed injection of youthful vibrancy during his time in charge, but this was an extremely underwhelming showing from the Super Eagles. Victor Moses’ final ball was often disappointing but he did catch the eye with some neat touches and dangerous dribbles, which is more than can be said for most of his team-mates.
Nigeria did not seem to have any sort of discernible attacking game plan, with Odion Ighalo and Alex Iwobi both anonymous for most of the encounter. Croatia ceded the initiative after the interval but were never unduly troubled by their opponents’ forays forward.
3. Croatia should have designs on top spot
Argentina’s 1-1 draw with Iceland means they are now under significant pressure heading into their next game, which comes against Croatia on Thursday. The Vatreni have no reason to fear Lionel Messi and co., and their victory here gives them a golden chance to wrap up qualification with a match to spare if they are able to record a second win in a row.
Croatia may not have Messi on their side, but there is arguably more balance and coherence to their team than Argentina’s. A midfield duo of Modric and Rakitic is eminently more inventive than one which pairs Javier Mascherano with Lucas Biglia, and it would not be a surprise to see Croatia dictate their meeting with the two-time world champions next week.
4. Dullest game of the World Cup so far
This was probably the dullest game we have seen in Russia so far, even if it had double the number of goals as Egypt vs Uruguay, Morocco vs Iran and Peru vs Denmark. There was a lack of intensity to both teams’ play here, although Croatia can be excused to an extent given they held the lead for most of the match.
The concentration levels of the TV audience was always likely to wane by the time the fourth game of the day rolled around, but Croatia and Nigeria did not make it easy for viewers to stay fresh and alert.
