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2019 Northern Ireland Defeat Luxembourg In Northern Ireland
Friendly Thanks To Malget Own Goal
11th, Kevin Malget was enough to Defeated By Germany
A horror own goal from
September give an experimental Northern orthern Ireland suffered For the opening 45 minutes, But for all Northern

Ireland side a 1-0 victory over

their first defeat of the
Park friendly.
| Luxembourg in their Windsor NEuro 2020 qualifying Northern Ireland matched that Ireland’s hard work in the first
half, Germany needed only
quality with belief and spirit,
Malget inexplicably headed
EXAMINER into his own net eight minutes before half-time to settle a match Halstenberg’s thunderbolt sent the wake of their conceding ing in the second.
three minutes to open the scor-
as
testing Germany’s resolve in
Marcel
campaign
short on quality as both sides looked to more important chal-
Germanyontheirwaytoa2-0win
Peacock-Farrell had already
four second-half goals in defeat
lenges to come on Monday.
in Belfast.
to Holland on Friday night.
made a good save to deny
For Northern Ireland, that is a Euro 2020 qualifier against
The Germans have never
The first of four crunch fix-
IRISH Germany, a match which loomed large in Michael O’Neill’s tures against the powerhouses lost back-to-back qualifiers but Klostermann in the opening
seconds but there was nothing
thinking as he sprung a few surprises in a youthful starting line-
up. of Group C – Northern Ireland they certainly looked unnerved he could do when Halstenberg
met Klostermann’s deep cross
in the opening exchanges as
face Holland in Rotterdam next
Cardiff defender Ciaron Brown – uncapped at any level and – ended in defeat after Serge Northern Ireland poured for- moments later.
only called into Ian Baraclough’s under-21s squad last week – Gnabry rolled in a second in ward. It might have been worse
started and looked assured as O’Neill made eight changes to the stoppage time, but the 18,000 Conor Washington poked moments later but the Burnley
side that beat Belarus in June. fans packed into Windsor Park just over in the sixth minute stopper denied Brandt before
Corry Evans, captain for the night, survived, along with goal- will hardly have been discour- and was then denied by a fine Klostermann fired wastefully
keeper Bailey Peacock-Farrell and Josh Magennis, but the likes of aged given their side’s display. save from Manuel Neuer after over on the follow-up, while
Jonny Evans, Craig Cathcart and Conor Washington did not Michael O’Neill’s men an uncharacteristic mistake Gnabry poked the ball just wide
even make the match day squad. played with heart and desire as from Kroos. from a counter-attack.
Instead, the uncapped Bobby Burns, Alfie McCalmont and they were roared on by a bois- Germany gradually began to Germany were in full flow
Ethan Galbraith took their places among the substitutes. terous crowd, but ultimately take the sting out of the atmos- now and Peacock-Farrell made
Kyle Lafferty, who only flew in to Belfast on Wednesday Germany’s superior quality phere as they hogged posses- an excellent save to push
evening after his late call-up, was thrown straight into the starting saw them take control after the sion and created chances of Werner’s low shot just around
XI and looked strong despite having only started one match for break. their own, with George Saville the post after a neat combina-
his new Norwegian club Sarpsborg and seeing his debut ended by The opening goal was a taking the full force of a tion with Marco Reus.
a red card 69 minutes in. moment of pure quality as Kimmich strike which he Northern Ireland needed to
Unsurprisingly it took Northern Ireland some time to bed in as Halstenberg met Lukas blocked on the edge of the area. regroup, but were screaming
Luxembourg, preparing for their own European qualifier against Klostermann’s deep cross with Germany were appealing for for a penalty when Paddy
Serbia, kept them pegged back early on. a powerful half-volley that flew a penalty when Timo Werner’s McNair hit the deck on the
A Jordan Thompson free-kick caused chaos after quarter of an past Bailey Peacock-Farrell. shot appeared to strike Craig hour, and then saw Dallas fire
hour when goalkeeper Anthony Moris came way off his line but It was the RB Leipzig Cathcart’s hand on its way past just wide from substitute Gavin
missed the ball, but Magennis was crowded out as Brown tried to defender’s first international the post but referee Daniele Whyte’s cross.
find him with a header. goal as he won his fourth cap, Orsato waved them away As the game became more
Better chances began to appear for Northern Ireland after the one of the several new faces in before Peacock-Farrell denied stretched, Germany still looked
half-hour mark, although Gavin Whyte sent the best of them a Germany squad which has Niklas Sule from the resulting the more likely to score, but
well over the crossbar from an angle. undergone a major overhaul corner. substitute Kai Havertz headed
O’Neill’s side would not manage a shot on target in the open- since their dismal World Cup A dramatic end to the first wastefully wide.
ing 45 minutes, but they would take the lead before the break showing last year. half then followed. Stuart O’Neill threw on Josh
thanks to Malget’s own goal. Only Toni Kroos and Joshua Dallas’ low cross caused a goal- Magennis and young Linfield
George Saville headed the ball back into the mix after Kimmich survived from the mouth scramble but Neuer striker Shayne Lavery in the
Luxembourg failed to deal with a corner. side that won 3-1 here two somehow emerged with the closing stages but they strug-
Though goalkeeper Moris beat Tom Flanagan to the ball, it years ago, though it said plenty ball as Washington could not gled to make an impact and it
span up before Malget inexplicably headed into his own goal. about the resources available to stretch far enough, while was Gnabry who had the final
Luxembourg were again stronger to start the second half, with Joachim Low that 10 of his Peacock-Farrell made a point- say, beating the offside trap and
Vincent Thill and Leandro Martins getting the first shots on tar- starting 11 are playing blank save from Werner as then Peacock-Farrell from a
get of the night, but neither tested Peacock-Farrell. Champions League football Germany tried to hit them on tight angle in the third minute
O’Neill responded by sending on Shayne Lavery for his second this season. the break. of time added on. C
cap and McCalmont for his debut.
Lavery, just a couple of weeks after scoring a superb goal on
this ground for Linfield in their Europa League qualifier against
Qarabag, was quick to impress.
He raced down the right before brushing the side-netting with
a shot from a tight angle before his low cross from the left
deserved a better finish than Thompson’s rising effort.
Liam Donnelly – who has scored eight goals in eight for
Motherwell to start the season – then came on for his second cap
and almost got his first international goal soon after.
Luxembourg’s substitute goalkeeper Ralph Schon collided
with his own defender and spilled the ball before making a smart
save to deny Donnelly on the follow-up.
Galbraith came on to make his debut with three minutes
remaining as Steven Davis also enjoyed a late cameo to equal
Aaron Hughes’ tally of 112 caps on the night the former defend-
er had been honored at half-time.
They had little time to make an impact but Northern Ireland
had already done enough to extend their winning run to five
games before facing the mighty Germany next week. C