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Northern Ireland national football team
Euro Champ Qualifying | Group Stage
Mar 21, 2019 at 7.45pm UK
 
Estonia national football team

2-0

McGinn (56'), Davis (75' pen.)
FT(HT: 0-0)

Northern Ireland begin qualifying campaign with win over Estonia

Northern Ireland begin qualifying campaign with win
© Reuters
Niall McGinn and Steven Davis on target at Windsor Park.

Northern Ireland delivered the victory manager Michael O'Neill had called essential as they saw off Estonia 2-0 in their opening Euro 2020 qualifier at Windsor Park.

After a tough draw paired them with Holland and Germany in Group C, Northern Ireland made sure the most winnable fixture of all led to three points as Niall McGinn and Steven Davis struck in the second half, the latter from the penalty spot.

It was a first competitive win since September 2017, putting to bed the frustration of last year's Nations League in which they failed to muster a point.

The first half had brought unwelcome memories of that campaign as Northern Ireland hogged the ball and kept their opponents on the back foot, only to go unrewarded.

The first clear sight of goal arrived inside two minutes when the ball fell for McGinn at the far post, but he cut across his shot to drag it wide.

Estonia's towering defenders Joonas Tamm and Madis Vihmann repelled a series of dangerous crosses, the bulk of them from the right where McGinn and Stuart Dallas made a nuisance of themselves, but Kyle Lafferty – making his first start since September – struggled to impact play in the middle.

The best chance fell to Paddy McNair, who buried his face in his hands after somehow heading Jordan Jones' looping cross down and over the bar from point-blank range in the 19th minute.

Craig Cathcart was the next to go close, getting his head to another Jones cross – this time from the right – but the Watford defender could not generate the power needed to beat Sergei Lepmets in the Estonia goal.

There was another fine chance with six minutes left in the half when Dallas' long throw was flicked on for Jones to strike on the turn, but his shot went just the wrong side of the post to keep it goalless at the break.

There were few signs of things changing in the opening 10 minutes of the second half as the hosts huffed and puffed without doing much to threaten Lepmets' goal.

But that changed in the 56th minute when Lafferty showed good strength to lay the ball off for McGinn to rifle home, to the audible relief of Windsor Park.

Northern Ireland's Niall McGinn celebrates
Northern Ireland's Niall McGinn celebrates (Niall Carson/PA)

McNair went close again in the 64th minute, beating Lepmets to Lewis' cross, but he could not keep his header down.

But if McGinn's goal had eased some nerves among the fans there were two warning signs for Northern Ireland.

First a corner was flicked on to Mattias Kait at the far post but the Fulham man could not keep his shot down.

Then the flag stayed down as Henri Anier ran through at goal, but Bailey Peacock-Farrell was quickly off his line to charge down the shot.

Steven Davis scores his side's second goal
Steven Davis scores his side's second goal (Niall Carson/PA)

Moments later, though, Northern Ireland had the points wrapped up. Estonia captain Karol Mets went in high on George Saville, and after the referee pointed to the spot, captain Davis sent his penalty straight down the middle.

There were late chances for Saville and substitute Josh Magennis to add a flourish, but Northern Ireland had already done enough to give them confidence they can make it six points out of six in Sunday's clash against Belarus.

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Steven Davis in action for Northern Ireland on September 11, 2018
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Group A

TeamPWDLPTS
Q Spain Spain870121
Q Scotland flag Scotland852117
3 Norway Norway832311
4 Georgia Georgia82248
5 Cyprus Cyprus80080

Group B

TeamPWDLPTS
Q France France871022
Q Netherlands Netherlands860218
3 Greece Greece841313
4 Ireland Rep. Ireland82066
5 Gibraltar flag Gibraltar80080

Group C

TeamPWDLPTS
Q England flag England862020
Q Italy Italy842214
3 Ukraine Ukraine842214
4 Macedonia N. Macedonia82248
5 Malta flag Malta80080

Group D

TeamPWDLPTS
Q Turkey Turkey852117
Q Croatia Croatia851216
3 Wales flag Wales833212
4 Armenia Armenia82248
5 Latvia Latvia81073

Group E

TeamPWDLPTS
Q Albania national flag Albania843115
Q Czech Republic Czech Republic843115
3 Poland Poland832311
4 Republic of Moldova Moldova824210
5 Faroe Islands Faroe Islands80262

Group F

TeamPWDLPTS
Q Belgium Belgium862020
Q Austria Austria861119
3 Sweden Sweden831410
4 Azerbaijan Azerbaijan82157
5 Estonia Estonia80171

Group G

TeamPWDLPTS
Q Hungary Hungary853018
Q Serbia Serbia842214
3 Montenegro Montenegro832311
4 Lithuania Lithuania81346
5 Bulgaria Bulgaria80444

Group H

TeamPWDLPTS
Q Denmark Denmark1071222
Q Slovenia Slovenia1071222
3 Finland Finland1060418
4 Kazakhstan Kazakhstan1060418
5 Northern Ireland flag N. Ireland103079
6 San Marino flag San Marino1000100

Group I

TeamPWDLPTS
Q Romania Romania1064022
Q Switzerland Switzerland1045117
3 Israel Israel1043315
4 Belarus Belarus1033412
5 Kosovo flag Kosovo1025311
6 Andorra flag Andorra100282

Group J

TeamPWDLPTS
Q Portugal Portugal10100030
Q Slovakia Slovakia1071222
3 Luxembourg flag Luxembourg1052317
4 Iceland Iceland1031610
5 Bosnia Bosnia H'vina103079
6 Liechtenstein flag Liechtenstein1000100

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