Faustino Adebola Anjorin made his Champions League debut for Chelsea to help the Blues claim a 1-1 draw against Krasnoder at Stamford Bridge on Tuesday night.
The youngster becomes the fifth Nigeria-eligible player to appear in Europe’s premier competition following in the footsteps of John Obi Mikel, Celestine Babayaro, Victor Moses and Dominic Solanke.
The England youth international logged logged 80 minutes before making way for Olivier Giroud and was impressive as Frank Lampard’s men finished their Champions League Group E fixtures without a loss.
Impressed with Anjorin’s performance and football attributes, Lampard told reporters at the post-match press conference:
“In training he’s shown since last season a real ability to step straight into the level. He showed it today, the way he moves the ball quickly and his physical attributes.”
Elsewhere at the Stadio Olympico, Emmanuel Dennis was benched throughout while David Okereke was an 84th-minute substitute as ten-man Club Brugge fought out a 2-2 draw with Lazio.
But the result was not enough to lift the Belgian champions into the next round of the UEFA Champions League.
After finishing third, despite losing only two matches during the group stages, Club Brugge will be playing their remaining continental games this campaign in the Europa League.
In Russia, Borussia Dortmund secured a comeback 2-1 win against Zenit St Petersburg in a match that saw kidwonder Youssouf Moukoko break Celestine Babayaro’s 26-year-old record to become the youngest ever player to debut in the Champions League.
