Northern Ireland 1-1 Luxembourg

Northern Ireland were left to rue a host of missed opportunities as Luxembourg stole a late draw at Windsor Park.

Things got off to a great start for Michael O'Neill's men at Windsor Park, as on 13 minutes Jonny Evans played in Dean Shiels and the Rangers forward chipped the ball over the goalkeeper to give the home side the lead. On 22 minutes they thought they had a second, when a Chris Brunt corner was headed back across the goal by Kyle Lafferty and put in by Evans - but the referee had blown for a push and the goal didn't stand. Only eight minutes later, Northern Ireland had the ball in the net again, only for the whistle to intervene a second time. Chris Baird won the ball and nicked it through to Lafferty who curled it in, but the FC Sion striker was flagged for offside. Baird, Lafferty and substitute Jamie Ward all had good chances before Brunt wasted a golden opportunity. He was put in by Steven Davies on 84 minutes, but he delayed and his shot eventually hit the post. Northern Ireland were left to rue that miss only a minute later, as Luxembourg forward Daniel Da Mota hit a speculative long-range effort that took a massive deflection off Ryan McGivern and nestled in the home net. The referee's whistle ended a night of frustration for Northern Ireland fans and their World Cup qualification dreams have taken a massive early blow.