Northern Ireland 2-0 Norway

Northern Ireland confidently swept aside Norway 2-0 at Windsor Park to strengthen their grip on 2nd place in Group C of World Cup qualifying.

Results elsewhere mean they’re 2 points clear of the Czech Republic, and 3 ahead of Azerbaijan.

Michael O’Neill’s men are now unbeaten in 8 home qualifiers, and Norway never really looked like they would be able to leave Belfast with any points.

It was the first night in charge for their new manager Lars Lagerbäck, who wasn’t able to immediately inject any creativity into the struggling squad. His tenure began in the worst possible way as Northern Ireland took the lead inside 90 seconds.

Jamie Ward collected a driven cross from Chris Brunt, with his first touch taking him away from goal, but clear of 2 defenders. That bought him enough space to swivel and shoot from just inside the box and his low, curling finish found the far corner.

The visitors were limited to hopeful long balls when they found themselves in possession. Most came to nothing, but Northern Ireland benefitted from some good luck in the 27th minute when Alexander Søderlund controlled a high ball just outside the box, and hammered a left-footed volley off the crossbar.

Just 6 minutes later, Northern Ireland pulled further ahead.

Conor McLaughlin started the move, intercepting a slack Norwegian pass before playing Steven Davis into a bit of space in midfield. The captain slid a pass in behind a half-asleep visiting defence, who played a dangerously high line. Conor Washington’s pace made them look particularly foolish, and took him through on goal far too easily. The QPR man calmly rolled the ball past Jarstein for his third international goal – all of them coming in Belfast.

Norway improved after the break, though. Substitute Adama Diomande headed straight at Michael McGovern with about 15 minutes left to play, and Nordtveit tested the keeper with a powerful free kick which needed to be tipped around the post.

Northern Ireland calmly saw out the second half, with Steven Davis continuing to dictate the tempo in the middle of the park.

Their next World Cup qualifier takes place in June, when they travel to Azerbaijan.