Match Report – N Ireland 2 – 1 Belarus

Northern Ireland tops group C European qualifiers after Germany's 3-2 win over Netherlands

Northern Ireland have won two consecutive wins in their Euro 2020 qualifying campaign in Group C with a 2-1 victory over a brave Belarusian on Sunday.

Jonny Evans scored his third goal in a Northern Ireland jersey at the half-hour mark with an unmarked header. Three minutes later, winger Ihar Stasevich reacted quickly by equalizing as his deflected shot defeated Bailey Peabad-Farrell (33).

After exerting a lot of pressure in the second half, Northern Ireland grabbed the winner deserved by Josh Magennis, who brought his goal back to the first post (87). But in stoppage time, Peabad-Farrell was summoned to make a vital stop to prevent substitute Pavel Nekhajchik (90 + 4).

The second consecutive victory of Northern Ireland places the group at the top of Group C with six points; three from the Netherlands and from Germany.

The Irish started the match on the front foot, with Paddy McNair particularly dynamic. In the 20th minute, he scored the first shot on goal, forcing Andrey Klimovich to parry.

The hosts then managed to get out of the deadlock in half an hour by Evans. Niall McGinn's corner was swept by Steven Davis and allowed the unmarked Leicester defender to find his way back to the top.

But three minutes later, Belarus got a surprise equalizer with his first shot on goal. Stasevich's efforts allowed Stuart Dallas to take a formidable turn before pbading Peabad-Farrell at the back of the net.

Northern Ireland dominated possession of the ball in the second half and Michael O'Neill decided to bring in Magennis in the 67th minute to give more firepower to the hosts' offense.

The decision bore fruit, following increased pressure in Northern Ireland, as the Bolton striker met McNair's center and stung within three minutes.

In added time, Peabad-Farrell retained the Irish advantage by reacting quickly to counter Nekhajchik's shot at the far post.

Opta Stats

• Northern Ireland has won each of its two games against Belarus, including a 3-0 win in the only previous meeting between the two teams in May 2016.
• Belarus lost consecutive games in all competitions for the first time since November 2017 (a series of five).
• Northern Ireland has lost only one of its last 12 qualifying matches for the European Championship (W8 D3 L1) and is unbeaten in eight games since a 2-down loss 0 against Romania in November 2014 (P8 W5 D3 L0).
• None of the last 18 home games of Northern Ireland, all competitions, have ended in a draw (W13, D0, L5), since a 1-1 draw against Hungary in September 2015.
• Belarus have conceded six goals in their last two games (4 against the Netherlands and 2 against Northern Ireland), more than their conceded in their last 11 games combined in all competitions (5).
• There was only 203 seconds between the opening of Jonny Evans for Northern Ireland and the equalization of Igor Stasevich for Belarus.
• Jonny Evans scored his third goal for Northern Ireland and his first since September 2017 against the Czech Republic.
• Steven Davis has scored four goals in his last three qualifiers for Northern Ireland at the Windsor Park European Championships (3 goals, 1 badists).
• Kyle Lafferty has failed to score in his last 14 appearances for Northern Ireland, eventually finding the back of the net for the Green and White Army in November 2016 (against the l '# 39; Azerbaijan).

Man of the Match – Jordan Jones

The Kilmarnock winger was a constant danger on the left side, alongside Lewis, with a considerable amount of Northern Ireland attacks flowing from the flank that he was occupying.

His ups and downs caused a lot of problems to Igor Shitov and played twice in very dangerous goals in the area that Kyle Lafferty might have had to face.

And after?

Northern Ireland will play against Estonia in Tallinn on June 8th. Belarus will host Germany in its third qualifying match for Euro 2020 the same day.