North blow hopes despite late draw

Northern Ireland 1 Azerbaijan 1

Rauf Aliyev scored a screamer to give the Group F minnows a fifth-minute lead and the hosts conspired to waste at least half a dozen glorious chances to equalise inside 90 minutes.

Northern Ireland manager Michael O’Neill felt his side deserved more and praised the “fantastic’ character of his players.

“The early goal obviously wasn’t in the plan and knocked us a bit, but I felt from that moment forward we basically dominated the game, we missed countless chances, but the character the players showed tonight was fantastic and I can’t ask any more of them. They went right to the death.

“We saw players playing the last few minutes with knocks and injures. We get the very least we deserved, and we deserved a lot more than that.”

Craig Cathcart and Chris Baird spurned four of the best between them and it took Healy’s first goal in four years, deep in added time, to avert what would have been an embarrassing defeat.

The result leaves Northern Ireland with three points from four games and all but out of the reckoning, as well as consigning last month’s heroic draw in Portugal firmly to the history books.

The home side began positively but Azerbaijan took a surprise lead with their first attack. Javid Huseynov won the ball in midfield and laid off to Aliyev, who bent in a stunning shot from 30 yards.

Northern Ireland, meanwhile, were enjoying plenty of time on the ball but struggling to make the final pass count and went in at the break scoreless.

Chances continued to flow on the resumption, McGinn and Baird the latest to go close.

By now the hosts’ frustrations were apparent after every unsuccessful move and O’Neill played his final card by sending on Healy for Cathcart. Five minutes into a generous period of injury time, he drilled home a free-kick to rescue a dramatic point.

That is unlikely to be enough to rescue Northern Ireland’s slim qualifying hopes but did save his side from an ignominious defeat.

NORTHERN IRELAND: Carroll, Hughes, Cathcart, (Healey - 81) McAuley, Danny Lafferty, McGinn, (Brunt - 66) Davis, Baird, Ferguson, Shiels, (McCourt - 55) Kyle Lafferty.

AZERBAIJAN: Salahat Agayev, Ramaldanov, Abusov, Levin, Medvedev, Aliyev, Huseynov, Gokdemir, Amirquliev, Nadirov, Ozkara.