Northern Ireland sign off qualifiers with Donley’s decisive penalty | OneFootball

Jamie Donley grabbed his first Northern Ireland goal as Michael O’Neill’s side rounded off their Group A campaign with a fairly forgettable 1-0 victory over Luxembourg at Windsor Park.

With qualification already out of reach and a play-off spot guaranteed thanks to last year’s Nations League success, the match had the feel of an end-of-term exercise.

O’Neill shuffled his pack accordingly, giving Donley only his second start in green and the young Tottenham forward justified it by sticking away a penalty just before the break. VAR picked up Christopher Martins catching Ciaron Brown as he tried to clear, and Donley made no mistake from the spot.

He’d actually put the ball in the net earlier, only for Ethan Galbraith to be flagged offside in the build-up. At the other end, Conor Hazard had to be sharp to push away Martins’ effort during a brief spell of Luxembourg pressure.

The second half drifted by without much fuss. A batch of substitutions disrupted any real flow, though Isaac Price did produce a couple of late efforts that were easy enough for goalkeeper Anthony Moris.

There was at least a milestone appearance for Josh Magennis, who pulled level with Keith Gillespie on 86 caps, and a debut for Barnsley youngster Patrick Kelly.

Luxembourg had one final shout for a penalty when Leandro Barreiro tumbled in stoppage time, but the referee wasn’t convinced, and Northern Ireland saw out the win. With Germany thrashing Slovakia 6-0 elsewhere to top the group, attention now turns to the play-offs in March.