There was a horrible sense of deja vu for Northern Ireland as a controversial refereeing decision contributed to a pivotal World Cup qualifying defeat by Switzerland.A depleted Northern Ireland stood up to early pressure, but after Jamal Lewis was shown an extremely harsh second yellow card for taking too long over a throw-in, they cracked as goals from Steven Zuber and Christian Fassnacht seale...Full Story »

Stephen Kenny admitted his first competitive win as Republic of Ireland manager was “overdue” after seeing Callum Robinson set up a 3-0 World Cup qualifying victory in Azerbaijan.Kenny had taken charge of 12 meaningful fixtures before the trip to Baku – one of them a 1-1 draw with the Azeris in Dublin last month – and had not emerged victorious from any of them.However, R...Full Story »

Ian Baraclough told his young Northern Ireland players to be “very, very proud” of their display in a goalless World Cup qualifying draw with Switzerland.Though they needed another penalty save from Bailey Peacock-Farrell to avoid a defeat on the night, Northern Ireland created the better chances from open play and more than matched a side ranked 37 places above them in the world.The...Full Story »

Bailey Peacock-Farrell’s penalty save earned Northern Ireland a point as they fought out an often intense but ultimately goalless World Cup qualifying draw against Switzerland at Windsor Park.Peacock-Farrell ensured there would be no repeat of events four years ago – when Ricardo Rodriguez’s hugely controversial spot-kick for the Swiss ended Northern Irish hopes of reaching the...Full Story »

Stephen Kenny insisted he does not need a vote of confidence from the Football Association of Ireland after seeing his team cling on to their fading World Cup hopes in dramatic fashion.An 86th-minute Nikola Milenkovic own goal at the Aviva Stadium saw the Republic of Ireland fight back to snatch a 1-1 draw with Serbia.The result spared their under-pressure manager further punishment after an unf...Full Story »

Sergej Milinkovic-Savic was both hero and villain for Serbia as the Republic of Ireland struck late once again to snatch a World Cup qualifying draw.On a night when the visitors, marshalled by the brilliant Dusan Tadic, were quicker in thought and deed for long periods, Milinkovic-Savic, who had earlier headed his side in front, thumped an attempted 86th-minute clearance straight at team-mate Ni...Full Story »

Shane Ferguson admitted he could hardly have scripted things better as he marked his 50th appearance for Northern Ireland with a wonder strike that saw off Estonia 1-0 in a friendly.The 30-year-old revealed he had been battling injury in the build-up to the game but he came off the bench in the second half and settled an otherwise largely drab encounter by rifling a shot into the top right corne...Full Story »

Shane Ferguson marked his 50th cap for Northern Ireland with a wonder strike as they edged out Estonia 1-0 in a friendly.For 75 minutes the two sides played out a largely drab affair in Tallinn but second-half substitute Ferguson changed that when he lashed home a left-footed strike from 30 yards to spark jubilant celebrations.It made it two wins out of two for Ian Baraclough’s side this w...Full Story »

Stephen Kenny has launched a passionate defence of his Republic of Ireland reign after admitting their World Cup hopes are realistically over.Ireland needed a late Shane Duffy equaliser to spare them the ignominy of a home defeat at the hands of Azerbaijan, ranked 112th in the world, as they belatedly opened their Group A account at the fourth time of asking after a 1-1 draw in Dublin.As a resul...Full Story »

Shane Duffy got the Republic of Ireland out of jail as they left it late to rescue their first point of the World Cup qualifying campaign with a face-saving 1-1 draw against Azerbaijan.Duffy’s 87th-minute header, his fifth international goal, cancelled out Emin Makhmudov’s stunning first-half strike and belatedly opened Ireland’s Group A account at the fourth attempt on an even...Full Story »

Shayne Lavery and Daniel Ballard scored their first international goals as Northern Ireland breathed life into their World Cup qualifying campaign with a resounding 4-1 win over Lithuania.Lavery’s goal on his first competitive start was a decisive third, much-needed after it took a Bailey Peacock-Farrell penalty save to stop a much-changed Northern Ireland side from throwing away a 2-0 lea...Full Story »

Cristiano Ronaldo became international football’s record goalscorer with a last-gasp double to snatch Portugal an unlikely victory from the Republic of Ireland’s grasp.The 36-year-old celebrated his return to Manchester United in style by almost single-handedly rescuing the Portuguese with headers in the 89th minute and the sixth minute of stoppage time to make it 2-1 just as it look...Full Story »

MANCHESTER UNITED have produced some iconic kits over their 143-year history including their Class of 92 inspired away gear released this season. But their new third strip seems to have prompted some unflattering comparisons to the colour scheme of Northern Rail train seats. Man United's third kit shirt has led some fans to draw comparisons with Northern Rail's seat colours The new shirt fe...Full Story »

Ali McCann believes Northern Ireland were unlucky to leave Dnipro empty-handed after a 1-0 friendly defeat to Ukraine on Thursday night.Oleksandr Zubkov’s 10th-minute header proved the difference on the night in an open match which saw both sides have plenty of opportunities.Euro 2020-bound Ukraine dominated the early going and would have hoped to put the game to bed by half-time, but Nort...Full Story »

Second-half chances went unrewarded as Northern Ireland fell to a 1-0 friendly defeat against Ukraine on Thursday night.After Oleksandr Zubkov highlighted a strong Ukrainian start with a 10th-minute goal it looked as though the hosts might cruise to a big win, but they spent much of the second half on the back foot as Northern Ireland gave Andriy Shevchenko plenty to think about going into Euro ...Full Story »

Troy Parrott’s first international goals spared the Republic of Ireland’s blushes as they came from behind in Andorra to finally hand manager Stephen Kenny victory at the 12th attempt.The 19-year-old Tottenham striker cancelled out Marc Vales’ shock 52nd-minute opener with a sweet strike and then powered home a header to restore order in Andorra La Vella with Jason Knight and s...Full Story »

Ian Baraclough admitted his Northern Ireland side were not at their best in Sunday’s 3-0 friendly win over Malta but that did not matter as the goals finally flowed and he could celebrate his first victory inside 90 minutes at the 12th attempt.Northern Ireland got some monkeys off their back as Baraclough got his first win since the penalty shoot-out victory over Bosnia and Herzegovina las...Full Story »

Ian Baraclough recorded his first win as Northern Ireland manager inside 90 minutes as they eased to a 3-0 friendly win over Malta in Austria.After Jordan Jones capitalised on a defensive mistake just two minutes in, quickfire second-half goals from Gavin Whyte and Ali McCann effectively ended the game as a contest.It was not always convincing against a side ranked 175th in the world and dealing...Full Story »