Magnificent NI hold European champions - and so close to sensational victory

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Jonny Evans - defensive masterclass

Q Radio Sport

Northern Ireland produced a performance of superb defensive discipline to hold European champions Italy to a 0-0 draw and send them into the World Cup play-offs.

Ian Baraclough's side saved their best performance of his reign for the last game of their World Cup qualifying campaign, and should have won late on with Conor Washington denied a last-minute goal by Leonardo Bonucci's goal-line clearance.

The Green and White Army had to be strong at the back and their five-man rearguard restricted an uninspired Italy to a number of half-chances in Belfast, with Federico Chiesa twice going close and Lorenzo Insigne's curling effort easily saved.

 

The full-time whistle was greeted with huge cheers from the capacity home crowd at the end of a profitable international break for Northern Ireland, whose four points from their final two games of qualifying have restored the belief around Baraclough's side, earning them a third-placed finish in Group C and allowing Switzerland to leapfrog Italy and qualify automatically for Qatar 2022.

"If they had won the game, we wouldn't have been saying that was daylight robbery, they covered the ground well and broke pretty well in the second half," former Northern Ireland international Neil Lennon told Sky Sports after one of the most impressive performances at Windsor Park for some time. 

 

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