Northern Ireland 0-1 Switzerland

A controversial penalty scored by Ricardo Rodriguez was enough to put Switzerland in control of their World Cup playoff tie with Northern Ireland.

The 58th minute spot-kick was awarded after an apparent handball by Corry Evans to send the visitors on their way to a deserved 1-0 win at Windsor Park on Thursday.

An energetic start from Northern Ireland saw Steven Davis burst into space with just 2 minutes on the clock and clip a cross in towards Kyle Lafferty, which the big striker was unable to fully control.

Sloppy Swiss passing then allowed Northern Ireland to launch an explosive counter attack down the left. With Stuart Dallas surging away from his markers, Schar launched in with a desperate tackle, and was lucky to only find himself booked with just 5 minutes played.

The best early chance fell to the visitors after an initual 10th minute effort from Dzemaili was blocked.

The ball was rolled back to Arsenal midfielder Granit Xhaka, but his strike from the edge of the box flew inches over the bar. Just 2 minutes later, he missed with an almost identical shot.

Michael McGovern then had to be at his acrobatic best to claw away a volley by Haris Seferovic following a superb cross by Stoke talisman Xherdan Shaquiri with 18 minutes on the clock.

The game settled somewhat after that, with Northern Ireland spending little time on the ball, their attacking threats limited to set pieces which ultimately led to nothing.

Poor finishing from Seferovic in the 35th minute perhaps let the home side off the hook, as he completely miscued with a header after being precisely set up by Lichtsteiner.

The Swiss had generally dominated the opening period, and the signs were ominous after the break as Shaqiri opened the 2nd half with a 20 yard curling shot which sailed merely inches clear of the top corner.

In the 54th minute, the visitors again went agonisingly close, this time Seferovic just too short to prod the ball home after a lateral pass by Dzemaili which rolled harmlessly along the 6-yard-line with the goal gaping.

For all their dominance, it was a moment of poor refereeing that allowed Switzerland to take the lead. In the 57th minute, Corry Evans was somehow judged to have deliberately used his arms while jumping to block a speculative volley from outside the box by Shaqiri. He was booked, and left-back Ricardo Rodriguez stepped up to calmly send Michael McGovern the wrong way.

Although the Swiss deserved the lead, the manner in which they went ahead left the Northern Ireland players as angry as they were confused. They were visibly rattled, and it wasn't until Josh Magennis headed wide from a Brunt free kick in the 71st that they mustered anything in reply.

A couple of extremely optimistic shouts for a Northern Irish penalty were the only positives, as Michael O'Neill's side failed to trouble Switzerland, who were able to hang on to claim a deserved win.