After the Standard Liege forward got the opening two, Brodie Spencer’s shot hit a post and rebounded in off Bulgaria goalkeeper Dimitar Mitov to make it 3-0 at the break. The last time Northern Ireland won 5-0 at home, George Best scored a hat-trick against Cyprus in April 1971. With Belarus and Luxembourg drawing 1-1 in Hungary, Northern Ireland sit top of League C Group 3 by one point before facing those two teams in their final games next month. He was fouled by Georgi Kostadinov as he tried to turn, but before Jerome Brisard could blow for a penalty, Price hit home via a deflection off Petrov. Northern Ireland were still not done and in the 89th minute Paul Smyth picked out fellow substitute Magennis, who powered home a shot off the underside of the crossbar.

Source: The Herald October 15, 2024 21:04 UTC