England’s total first-half domination was emphasised when captain Harry Kane scored his eighth goal in his last seven appearances six minutes before the interval when Nigeria keeper Francis Uzoho allowed his 18-yard shot to slip in.
Arsenal’s Alex Iwobi gave Nigeria’s thousands of fans inside Wembley hope two minutes after the break with a crisp finish but England – who had Raheem Sterling booked for diving – closed out the victory in relatively untroubled fashion.
England’s display must be placed in context. Nigeria were desperately poor in the first 45 minutes and were only enlivened by a host of half-time substitutions and the encouragement of that goal back from Arsenal’s Iwobi.
England will take a morale-boosting win with the World Cup so close although, inevitably, the pattern and rhythm of this friendly was disrupted by the predictable raft of second-half substitutions.
Highlights
Moments
Goal! England 1, Nigeria 0. Gary Cahill (England) header from the centre of the box to the top right corner. Assisted by Kieran Trippier with a cross following a corner. 
13’ Attempt missed. Raheem Sterling (England) left footed shot from a difficult angle on the left misses to the right. Assisted by Dele Alli. 
Goal! England 2, Nigeria 1. Alex Iwobi (Nigeria) left footed shot from the centre of the box to the bottom right corner. 
Statistics 
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