A crippling list of absentees provides plenty of extenuating circumstances but Northern Ireland have won only three of their last 16 games, and have only scored in three of their nine qualifiers in this campaign – two of those being victories over minnows San Marino. The last time Northern Ireland were in Helsinki in October 2015 they had just booked their ticket to Euro 2016, but this time they were without 12 injured players, with O’Neill having to reach ever deeper into the nation’s limited pool of players. Jamal Lewis of Northern Ireland, left, is challenged by Rasmus Schuller (Roni Rekomaa/AP)George Saville was captaining the side on the night of his 50th cap but is yet to score in Northern Ireland colours, so it was sadly little surprise to see the Millwall midfielder fire wide after a neat move involving Price, Charles, and Trai Hume. Northern Ireland needed a response but instead conceded a second just three minutes into the second half. Pukki turned provider in the 88th minute, playing the ball through Ballard’s legs for Lod to poke home, condemning Northern Ireland to their worst result yet in a dismal campaign.

Source: The Herald November 17, 2023 19:24 UTC