Northern Ireland produced a stunning 3-0 Nations League victory over Ukraine in Trnava, Slovakia, as Michael O’Neill’s young side moved top of League B2 with seven points from three games. Ciaron Brown scored twice, and O’Neill’s starting team had an average age of 22, the youngest on record for Northern Ireland since World War Two.
Oxford defender Brown, the only player over 25 to start, opened the scoring in the ninth minute from Ruairi McConville’s knockdown. O’Neill handed a first start to 19-year-old Kieran Morrison, whose superb cross led to Isaac Price doubling the lead, before Brown’s header evaded goalkeeper Dmytro Riznyk in bizarre circumstances with 30 minutes left. Brown’s two goals were his first for Northern Ireland, and the result gave O’Neill’s side a third consecutive clean sheet.
The back five impressed, with Brodie Spencer and Terry Devlin drafted in at full-back. Brown’s centre-back partners, McConville and Tom Atcheson, also shone. McConville, 21, of Norwich City commanded his area and provided an assist for Brown; he also let the ball trickle over the line when he could have touched home for the third goal instead of his team-mate. Atcheson, 20, who plays for Blackburn Rovers in the Championship and made his Northern Ireland debut in Wales in March, showed composure beyond his years.
O’Neill said both players were ‘terrific’. ‘They have no ceiling, to be honest,’ he said. ‘They are both playing in the Championship at the minute but they are ready to go to the next level. They will make mistakes at times and we’ve put a lot on them in terms of the physicality. The two of them were brilliant.’
O’Neill was also delighted for Brown, saying the defender had ‘really grown’ into a senior role in the absence of injured Sunderland defender Dan Ballard. ‘Three 90 minutes at this level is tough,’ O’Neill said of the 28-year-old. ‘He plays his club football in League One and he’s a better player than that. He brings a lot to the team. He was our most senior player tonight and he has really grown into that.’
Asked for the most pleasing aspect, O’Neill pointed to the ‘overall performance’. ‘We played a really good team tonight and we had to be really well set-up,’ he said. ‘The team was really well prepared and the staff done an amazing job, from the analysis to the set-pieces and right through everything. Everything fell into place a little bit, we scored early from a set-piece and the second goal was brilliant. Another clean sheet and there were some really good performances right through the squad.’
O’Neill had spent the build-up playing down memories of Northern Ireland’s famous win at Euro 2016, focusing on the future. The 3-0 win may not be quite as memorable as the 2-0 ‘Kings of Lyon’ success at the Euros, but it was extremely impressive. Only Sweden and France had beaten Ukraine in the past 12 months before Friday, and Northern Ireland can now be added to that list. It was their biggest away success in five years, and they had not won an away Nations League match before Shea Charles’ 99th-minute winner in Georgia.
With four goals scored and none conceded, Northern Ireland are three points clear of Hungary and Ukraine at the top of League B2. They host Georgia, who have one solitary point to date, at Windsor Park on Monday night. If they end the quadruple-header unbeaten, they will head into November’s final two matches on a high.
Topping the group would seal promotion to League A for the first time and mean Northern Ireland would be in a five-team group for Euro 2028 qualification, with a potential fall-back of a play-off should the campaign go awry.
Former international Stephen Craigan, on co-commentary in Slovakia, described it as potentially ‘a seismic night’ for a young group that was missing Ballard, the influential Ethan Galbraith and Liverpool defender Conor Bradley, while Justin Devenny started on the bench. Price, 23, who scored his first international goal in just over a year, said: ‘There is a big togetherness in a young group. We’re loving it and we love coming away. It’s about building momentum and we’re doing that.’ All focus for now will be on recovery before Monday’s final game of the window.