Arsenal summer signing Takuma Asano opened his Rio 2016 Olympic account with a memorable backheel goal for Japan, but it wasn't enough as Oghenekaro Etebo scored four goals for Nigeria to earn a 5-4 victory.

Takuma finished off a fine flowing move from Japan with a clever finish from close range 20 minutes from time, with the Gunners forward making it 5-3 to set up a frantic finale in Manaus.

Musashi Suzuki then scored a late goal to hand Makoto Teguramori's men hope of a double-digit draw, but Nigeria held on

The Japanese fightback was perhaps no surprise given Chelsea midfielder Mikel John Obi and his team-mates only arrived in Manaus hours before kick-off following a flight delay, with the players reportedly unhappy with the size of the plane originally chartered.

But there was no sign of jet-lag as the game began in thrilling fashion, with the teams levels at 2-2 after just 11 minutes.

Nigeria's Sadiq Umar opened the scoring after six minutes after a mistake from Japan goalkeeper Masatoshi Kushibiki, but Teguramori's side were level three minutes later with Shinzo Koroki netting from the penalty spot.

The Super Eagles retook the lead a minute later with the first of Etebo's four goals, but Takumi Minamino then had Japan level again seconds after kick-off.

Ebeto made the vital breakthrough either side of half-time, with a rebound three minutes before the interval, a penalty six minutes after the restart and his fourth from another Kushibiki mistake 23 minutes from time putting Nigeria in a commanding position.

Asano and Suzuki struck late, but Ebeto had already done the damage to earn a Group B win and give himself a huge chance of finishing as top scorer at the Olympics after just one game.