Solitary goal enough for Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland 1 Lithuania 0
Last updated 13th Nov 2021
The scoreline doesn’t reflect the game – or the opening 45 minutes at least.
Northern Ireland went in front on 17 minutes, but spurned chance after chance in the first half to win more comfortably at Windsor Park on Friday night.
The second period was a much calmer affair but the hosts missed the opportunity to score more.
While they can no longer qualify for next year’s World Cup, this match – and Monday’s clash with European champions Italy – represented a chance to show tangible progress under Manager Ian Baraclough.
They certainly didn’t begin like the tie was the archetypal ‘dead rubber’, dominating from the outset.
The home side were very much on the front foot in the opening periods of the match with Baraclough’s five in midfield helping to pin back a Lithuanian side who seemed content to let Northern Ireland have the ball.
And when they went in front courtesy of an own goal early on, it seemed as if it would be one of those nights where the floodgates might well open.
However, despite being vastly superior for the bulk of the game, Northern Ireland just lacked that killer touch in front of goal as chances came and went.
After Josh Magennis and Conor Washington had both gone close, the opener arrived on 17 minutes.
Paddy McNair curled in a dangerous corner from the left and, as Magennis attempted to get his head on it, that forced Lithuanian defender Benas Satkus to nod past his own keeper from close range.
It seemed as if they had scored a second just a minute later when some neat interplay saw Ali McCann sidefoot into the bottom corner from just inside the box. But, the assistant had his flag up with Magennis deemed to have been offside and VAR subsequently ruled it out.
Northern Ireland then had the ball in the net for the third time in the half as Magennis headed home. But he was penalised for an apparent foul before being denied by the keeper a few minutes later.
Baraclough’s men – roared on by the regulation vocal backing from the Green and White Army in the stands - were so dominant in the opening 45 minutes they must have wondered how they were only one in front at the interval.
However, they didn’t really ram home their superiority in the second period the way they probably should have done.
Chances came and went for McCann and Magennis before the stadium erupted with the introduction of 17-year-old Dale Taylor as a 78th minute substitute.
He made an instant impact, rousing the crowd in the Kop with a surging forward run to earn a corner for his side.
However, it was a tepid second period and while there will be positives take for Baraclough and his side, they will be frustrated at not winning more convincingly.
With the mighty Italy in town on Monday night, a much-improved performance is a necessity if they are to get anything from that one and round off an up and down campaign on a high note.
NORTHERN IRELAND: Peacock-Farrell, J Evans, Cathcart, McNair, Davis, McCann, Saville (C Evans 70), Ferguson (Lewis 70), Dallas, Washington (Jones 87), Magennis (Taylor 78)
Subs not used: Hazard, Southwood, Southwood, Bradley, Flanagan, McGinn, Whyte, Galbraith, Brown
LITHUANIA: Setkus, Satkus, Dapkus (Gaspuitis 75), Vaitkunas, Laukzemis (Kazlauskas 80), Cernych, Novikovas, Megelaitis (Simkus 86), Lasickas, Verbickas (Armanavicius 86), Barauskas
Subs not used: Krapikas, Plukas, Kucys, Veliulis, Matulevicius, Dubickas,
Referee: Istvan Vad (Hungary)