Nigeria Player Ratings: Uzoho and Balogun flourish in Ghana draw

Maduka Okoye’s stand-in had a solid performance, making two decent stops from Abdul Fatawu Issahaku and Mohammed Kudus in either half.

The goalkeeper was sharp to claim crosses into the area as well as smother loose balls from time to time.

Despite a lack of match action since the Africa Cup of Nations, the Watford centre-back had one of his better Nigeria games against the Black Stars, coping quite well against the threat of Felix Afena-Gyan.

The returning Rangers defender had a strong showing alongside Troost-Ekong, handling his defensive tasks fairly well and even carrying the ball into midfield intermittently when the Super Eagles struggled for ball progression.

The Torino full-back rarely put a foot wrong at the Baba Yara Stadium and fashioned the away side’s best chance of the first half which Joe Aribo failed to convert.

While Sanusi could have done better with some of his deliveries, one of his better crosses into the area for Victor Osimhen ought to have been converted by the Napoli frontman.

The left0back was withdrawn for Calvin Bassey with 15 minutes remaining.

Ineffectual showing for the defensive midfielder who deputised for the injured Wilfred Ndidi.

Subbed just after the hour after sustaining an injury.

While the Rangers man could have done better with his opportunity before half-time, his early withdrawal was somewhat surprising.

A frustrating outing for the wide attacker who often held on to possession for too long and got little joy before his substitution on the hour.

Having been Augustine Eguavoen’s best performer at Afcon, Simon did not pull any trees against the Black Stars.

The Nantes attacker lost the ball quite often, and was wasteful with his final ball and missed a gilt-edged one-vs-one chance 10 minutes into the second half.

While the Leicester City forward had an uneventful game, he created the visitors’ best chance of the evening.

Iheanacho failed to win any of his duels in the entirety of the game (11 tussles altogether).

The Napoli frontman huffed and puffed but suffered owing to the absence of quality chances.

In hindsight, Osimhen probably feels he should have attacked Sanusi’s first-half cross with more conviction.

Onyeka had a decent-to-good showing after replacing Aribo, winning five of eight duels.

Still, the Brentford man ought to rue his final ball in the game’s closing stages when he failed to pick out a teammate despite having time on the ball.

Etebo was booked for his prostrations after Nigeria’s penalty was rescinded in the 77th minute.

The on-loan Watford midfielder offered energy in midfield and his pressing helped to win the cancelled award of a spot-kick.

While Dennis failed to pull up trees in an attacking sense, his industry in tracking back thwarted a Ghana counter-attack in the game’s last quarter.

The versatile Rangers defender replaced Sanusi for his Nigeria debut in the 75th minute.

Like Bassey, Lookman made his Super Eagles bow against the Black Stars, introduced with 15 minutes to play.