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.
Taiwan’s Wu Fang-hsien and Jiang Xinyu of China yesterday won the women’s doubles title at the ASB Classic in Auckland, while Naomi Osaka retired from the women’s singles final with an abdominal injury. Second seeds Wu and Jiang defeated Serbia’s Aleksandra Krunic and Sabrina Santamaria of the US 6-3, 6-4 on ASB Tennis Centre’s Stadium Court in 1 hour, 5 minutes. The WTA 250 victory was 25-year-old Wu’s second WTA Tour title, after winning the 2023 Hua Hin Championships in Thailand with Taiwanese partner Chan Hao-ching. Later that year, Wu and Taiwan’s Hsu Yu-hsiou won the mixed doubles gold at the World
The NHL postponed the Los Angeles Kings’ home game against the Calgary Flames on Wednesday with several massive wildfires burning across the greater Los Angeles area. The Kings and Flames were scheduled to play on Wednesday night at the Kings’ downtown arena. The NBA’s Los Angeles Lakers were scheduled to host the Charlotte Hornets in the same arena last night. “Our hearts are with our entire Los Angeles community,” the Kings said in a statement. “We appreciate the hard working first responders who are diligently working to contain the fire and protect our community. We appreciate the league’s support in keeping our
EL CLASSICO: La Liga champions Real Madrid would face Barcelona in the Super Cup final tomorrow. Barca secured their final spot after a 2-0 win over Bilbao on Wednesday Real Madrid would chase a record-equaling 14th Spanish Super Cup title in the final against Barcelona after second-half goals by Jude Bellingham and Rodrygo helped them to a 3-0 win over Mallorca in the semi-finals on Thursday. England midfielder Bellingham broke the deadlock after the hour mark with a low shot into the middle of the goal before Mallorca defender Martin Valjent’s own goal doubled the lead in stoppage time followed by a Rodrygo strike from close range. Spanish champions Real are to play Barcelona for the trophy tomorrow after goals by Gavi and Lamine Yamal earned Barca a 2-0 win over
Peterborough manager Darren Ferguson said an unnamed Everton player “had a pop” at him after he denied Tyler Young the opportunity to come on as a substitute against his father Ashley in Thursday’s English FA Cup third round match. While former England international Ashley came off the bench in the second half for Everton, Tyler was an unused sub in the game at Goodison Park. Everton won 2-0 against the third-division team. “I’ve got to do what’s best for my team and we’re not a charity case,” Ferguson said. “As much as I wanted Tyler to go on with his dad, one
RSS