Ten-man Northern Ireland slump to home defeat against Slovenia

Just as was the case in the reverse fixture, Slovenia found themselves in front inside five minutes. After Jamal Lewis had fouled Benjamin Šeško, Adam Gnezda Čerin stepped up and bent a glorious free-kick in off the far post from 20 yards to bag his third international goal on the occasion of his 25th cap.

However, the Green and White Army seemed undeterred by that early setback and almost seized on a defensive lapse by the scorer, but after Paul Smyth had intercepted his slack pass, the Queens Park Rangers winger saw his shot blocked by the recovering Jaka Bijol, who not long afterwards thwarted the same opponent with an impeccable sliding tackle.

At the other end, Bailey Peacock-Farrell parried Petar Stojanović’s low shot and then thought he had let in a second as Šesko tucked in from close range. But after a VAR review, Šeško’s strike partner Andraž Šporar was adjudged to have been interfering with play in an offside position, so the goal was chalked off.

Sensing an opportunity to get back into the contest, Michael O’Neill threw on Conor Washington for Josh Magennis at the break, but their hopes of equalising were dealt a severe blow when Shea Charles caught Šporar late and was given a second yellow on 58 minutes, having earlier been booked for dissent.

Again though, the hosts refused to lie down, with Isaac Price providing infectious energy off the bench as Jan Oblak got down to hold two George Saville efforts either side of Jan Mlakar somehow missing the target when he should have put the game to bed.

Despite facing some pressure, Slovenia ultimately held on, and thanks to Denmark only beating San Marino 2-1, Matjaž Kek’s side remain top of Group I with two matchdays left, and can qualify with a win in their next encounter in Copenhagen.

Flashscore Man of the Match: Jaka Bijol (Slovenia)

See all the stats from Slovenia's win over Northern Ireland on Flashscore