Northern Ireland 1-0 Luxembourg

Northern Ireland eased to a 1-0 victory over Luxembourg in a lacklustre friendly at Windsor Park on Thursday night.

Manager Michael O'Neill took advantage of the opportunity to rest most of his senior players for Monday's qualifier with Germany, as Corry Evans captained a much-changed side in Belfast.

Cardiff City's Ciaron Brown made a surprise debut at the back after being brought in from the Under-21 squad, partnering Tom Flanagan at centre-back.

In a tepid first half, it took all of 35 minutes for Northern Ireland to register a shot against the minnows, with Gavin Whyte blazing over from the angle.

However, just 3 minutes later, they were handed the lead when, under no real pressure, defender Kevin Malget made the bizarre decision to head the ball into the bottom corner of his own net.

George Saville had drawn a good save from the keeper with a header, and with the ball dropping back into the 6-yard-box, Malget made a complete mess of what was presumably an effort to guide the ball safely out for a corner.

Into the second half, Alfie McAlmont replaced Saville to make his senior debut, while Linfield's Shayne Lavery replaced Kyle Lafferty as he won his second cap. Captain Corry Evans was then taken off for Liam Donnelly, who won his first cap since 2014.

The changes injected some much-needed energy into the side and in the 73rd minute Lavery created a good chance with a cutback for Jordan Thompson, but the Blackpool midfielder lifted his effort just over the bar.

With 4 minutes left to play, Manchester United's 18-year-old midfielder Ethan Galbraith made his debut as Northern Ireland wound down the clock to make sure of the win.