Northern Ireland’s fairy-tale start to Euro 2016 qualifying continued in sensational style on Tuesday as Michael O’Neill’s side stunned former champions Greece 2-0 at the Georgios Karaiskakis Stadium in Athens.
The visitors were left celebrating their third straight victory thanks to goals from Jamie Ward and Kyle Lafferty and, sitting top of Group F, are starting to dream of reaching their first major championship finals since the 1986 FIFA World Cup.
The Northern Irish side took a deserved early lead in the ninth minute through Ward’s strike, with Lafferty adding the decider in superb fashion on the counterattack six minutes after halftime.
Photo: EPA
The victory piles the pressure on Claudio Ranieri’s side, who are second-bottom of the group as Northern Ireland moved two points clear of Romania at the top.
For Greece, who were favorites to win the group when the draw was made, it is the worst start to a qualifying campaign since Euro 2004, when they lost their opening two games before eventually qualifying and going on to win the tournament.
The Greek squad started nervously in the face of early pressure from the visitors and found themselves behind when Ward worked hard to win a corner on the right flank.
The Derby County striker earned his reward after ruffling the feathers of Sokratis Papastathopoulos and captain Vasilis Torosidis by turning home the resulting corner from Oliver Norwood.
Norwich City striker Lafferty then made it 2-0 with his third goal in as many matches, outpacing Kostas Stafylidis on a rapid break before scoring with a clinical, low shot.
In Tuesday’s other Group F games, a brace from Bogdan Stancu gave Romania a resounding 2-0 win in Finland, while Adam Szalai’s solitary effort handed Hungary a 1-0 triumph in the Faroe Islands.
In the day’s sole Group E game, Switzerland recorded their first points with a 4-0 victory away to hapless San Marino, with Haris Seferovic scoring twice and Blerim Dzemaili and Xherdan Shaqiri also on target.
The next round of Euro qualifiers will be played over the weekend of Nov. 14 to 16.
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