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Michael O’Neill praised his “fantastic” performance northern ireland Players after 2-0 win slovakia Windsor Park kept them firmly in the race for World Cup qualifying Group A.
Northern Ireland went ahead after an 18th-minute own goal from Patrick Hrosowski, they created a number of chances for a second before Troy Hume’s first international goal nine minutes from time sealed the victory, leaving Northern Ireland level on six points. Germany And Slovakia.
Northern Ireland played with hunger and passion, and arguably should have been further ahead having spurned Jamie Reid’s first-half chance, but got a toe on a goalbound Shea Charles shot when ruled for offside in the second period.
This meant O’Neill’s men had to endure a few nervous moments before Hume’s neat lobbed finish.
“It was a great performance,” O’Neill said. “We set a standard for the players and they performed. I think the team was as well prepared as they possibly could be. We left no stone unturned and we got a great response from the players all week.
“You hope to get that performance but I was half-expecting we would get it and they were brilliant throughout the team.”
O’Neill had declined to call it an urgent game in the build-up, but said notably on Thursday that his players were well aware of its importance ahead of Monday’s trip to Germany.
“It’s a huge result in terms of the group,” O’Neill said. “All three teams now have six points. We have two home matches left and one away from home, so maybe that will give us a little advantage.”
O’Neill declined to say whether it was his team’s best performance since returning to the Northern Ireland job in December 2022, but it was right there – his young team showed energy and fight, but also the composure needed to see out a crucial qualifier against experienced opposition.
connor bradley He was an exceptional player, but there were excellent performances everywhere, especially Charles, Hume and Ethan Galbraith.
“Connor was awesome,” O’Neill said. “I think when he plays in a Northern Ireland shirt he knows he really plays on the front foot, his combination play with Ethan was brilliant at times, and the whole side of the pitch works well with Trae as well, it’s a brilliant performance from him.
“I thought Shea was excellent. If you want a performance from a midfield player it was everything I thought he gave in terms of winning the ball back, covering the ground, using the ball and finally scoring a brilliant effort on goal.
“I can name them all because they all played their part.”
The only disappointment for O’Neill was the cheap booking for captain Bradley which ruled him out of Monday’s game against Germany. Swedish referee Glenn Nyberg then showed a yellow card. liverpool The defender brought down Lukas Harslin inside the Slovakia half.
O’Neill said, “I’ve seen the incident, I’ve seen what the referee let go and for him to give a yellow card I think it’s extremely disappointing, obviously now it leads to a suspension.”
“There were a lot of bad tackles in the game, just before that there was a tackle on Isaac Price which the referee let go, so for him to get a yellow card was disappointing.”