Two second-half goals from right-back Paul Papp helped Romania inflict a first Euro 2016 qualifying defeat on Northern Ireland with a 2-0 win in Bucharest tonight.
The hosts dominated the opening half but struggled to find a breakthrough, before their patience paid off 15 minutes from time when Papp expertly finished into the corner of the goal from inside the box.
He did it again five minutes later, this time nodding a Lucian Sanmartean cross beyond Roy Carroll as Romania moved top of Group F.
Below, relive all of the drama with Sports Mole's live commentary.
Good evening all and you're very, very welcome to our live text commentary as Northern Ireland look for a FOURTH successive win in Euro 2016 qualifying. It's been the stuff of dreams for Michael O'Neill's men thus far but, like most dreams, they can be rudely interrupted and Romania are charged with the task of bringing them back to reality in Bucharest tonight.
They can't get another win, can they? Why not? I watched them against Greece last month and they thoroughly deserved their 2-0 win in Athens - and we're talking about the top seeds here! The post-match soundbites centered around the nation's growing belief that they could qualify for their first ever European Championship, and another good result tonight will make it all that harder to doubt them.
Michael O'Neill is, if you didn't know, the manager who took Republic of Ireland club Shamrock Rovers into the Europa League group stages a few years back; such a massive achievement, so, you know, he has a proven record when it comes to making the impossible possible. Fair play to him. Let's take a look at how he has reinvigorated the national game in Northern Ireland.
Here's the story of their campaign thus far: Hungary looked on course to beat them in Budapest in September, but two goals in the final 10 minutes from Niall McGinn and Kyle Lafferty saw them leave with three points. Lafferty was then on the scoresheet again in a 2-0 home win over Faroe Island in October, before scoring yet AGAIN in Athens three days later. No prizes for guessing who Northern Ireland's go-to-guy is then!
Yep, with three goals in as many qualifiers, Lafferty is driving them toward France in 2016 for the finals. The Norwich City striker made Kostas Manolas, the Roma defender and reported Arsenal target, look like a Sunday league defender at times in that win over Greece.
As we know from Spiderman, though: with great power comes great responsibility, and Lafferty now finds himself expected to score the goals to boost their qualification prospects. Can he handle that pressure? There's a big spotlight on him tonight. Let's see if he's playing first then, shall we? (He is, because I've already seen the lineups but I'm trying to build suspense).
ROMANIA XI: Tatarusanu; Papp, Chirches, Grigore, Rat; Torje, Sanmartean, Pintilii, Tanase; Chipciu; Stancu
NORTHERN IRELAND XI: Carroll; C McLaughlin; McAuley, Hughes, McGivern; Baird; Brunt, McGinn, C Evans, Norwood; Lafferty
Right, let's start with the visitors and I can tell you that O'Neill makes three changes from that historic win in Athens. Niall McGinn and Chris Brunt both come into midfield to replace Jamie Ward and Steven Davis, while Ryan McGivern replaces the injured Shane Ferguson at left-back. Chris Baird will sit in front of a defence of Conor McLaughlin, Gareth McAuley, Aaron Hughes and McGivern, with Roy Carroll continuing in goal.
Lafferty, of course, starts up top for Northern Ireland, with the likes of Oliver Norwood and Corry Evans in support.
Let's have a look at Romania's lineup then. Bogdan Stancu, who has scored 50% of their goals in qualifying thus far - or twice if you want to be simplistic - spearheads their attack in a 4-4-1-1, with Alexandru Chipciu operating just behind. Gabriel Torje and Cristian Tanase line up on the wing, with veteran Lucian Sanartean and Mihai Pintilli in the middle of midfield.
Ciprian Tatarusanu starts between the sticks ahead of Costel Pantilimon, in front of a defence of Paul Papp, Spurs defender Vlad Chirches, Dragos Grigore and Razvan Rat. Two changes in total from last month's 2-0 win over Finland.
Greece were top seeds, but Romania undoubtedly represent Northern Ireland's biggest challenge yet. They're the first yardstick to gauge where Northern Ireland are at - and how far they can go! They've picked up seven points from a possible nine, winning away to Greece and Finland, but drawing at home to Hungary. They're no mugs, and a positive result for the visitors will add further momentum to their push for a top-two finish. Around nine minutes to go now!
Incidentally, this is the third competitive between the sides. The good news is that Northern Ireland have won the previous two; winning 1-0 and 3-2 back in the mid 80s. Republic of Ireland boss Martin O'Neill was on target in the latter. He is, of course, in Glasgow tonight for his side's qualifier with Scotland so best of luck to them.
Wow. Romanian fans are up for this, my friends. They're extremely loud in singing along to their nation's national anthem in Bucharest. Looks like Northern Ireland are up against 12 men already.
Jonas Eriksson will referee this one. He's Swedish if you couldn't tell by his name, and he's a multi millionaire apparently. He's got a big job tonight because this Romanian mob are vocal and they're going to pressure every single decision. Northern Ireland are right up against it.
KICKOFF! Aaaaaaaaaaaand we're off in Bucharest, my friends. The hosts, playing from right to left, get us underway. First job for Northern Ireland? Silence these fans a bit.
Looks like Spurs man Vlad Chirches is charged with the task of keeping three-goal Kyle Lafferty quiet tonight. He's just raced up and beat him to a 50-50 ball to put a bit of a marker down.
Lafferty seen very little of the ball thus far; his touch let him down just then after trying to hold the ball up from Aaron Hughes's searching ball.
The Romanian fans are booing the ref already for blowing up after Chipciu collided with Roy Carroll, sending the big keeper to the floor. It's like a scene from The Grey out there now.
Romania are pressuring the ball very well, forcing Northern Ireland into a number of hurried passes already.
The Romania fans haven't forgiven Roy Carroll for being fouled by Chipciu just yet it seems, whistling the goalkeeper's every touch and goal kick now. They're quite a scary bunch.
Looks like Lucian Sanmartean is the one pulling the strings for Romania in the middle of midfield at the moment. He's 34 so he's obviously vastly experienced. Chris Baird will need to keep a very close eye on him.
Just as I say that, Baird concedes a free kick in a pretty dangerous position, obstructing Sanmartean who comfortably skinned him. He won't get away with too many of them without being booked.
It's all Romania so far but they're yet to really fashion a clear-cut chance. They've got a corner now after Aaron Hughes cleared his lines....
SHOT! And that corner very nearly leads to a goal - and it would've been a fine effort. Chirches, the centre-half, tries a fantastic overhead kick but Carroll, after dropping the initial effort, collected at the second attempt. Decent effort from the Spurs man.
CLOSE! Oh my word. Northern Ireland are inches from taking a lead completely against the run of play. Lafferty is the architect, running at the defence for the first time, before delicately playing in the overlapping Chris Brunt who fires a left-footed shot just wide. Very, very close.
OFF THE BAR! The game has well and truly sparked to life and Romania have responded very well to that scare a minute ago. It's Chipciu who lifts a tame shot against the bar, before heading straight into Carroll's arms from the rebound.
Sanmartean is far and away the stand-out player so far. He's at the heart of everything that Romania create and Michael O'Neill will want to address his freedom urgently.
Really good tackle from Conor McLaughlin there to concede a corner and put an end to Torje's run. He's been a bit quiet thus far, the right-back, with all the action coming down Ryan McGivern's left-hand side at the moment.
Some of these Romanian players are taking the you know what out of their Northern Irish counterparts. Sanmartean has just jogged through midfield with the ball, comfortably shielding possession from Chris Baird, while centre-half Vlad Chirches just did the same. They need to get Lafferty into the game a little more. Easier said than done.
This is a shocking pass from Cristian Tanase, who got the weight all wrong as Stancu stood in an onside position waiting to be played through with Roy Carroll. Really poor from the winger.
We're at the 30-minute mark, and the good news is that there's only two more of these half-hour periods before Northern Ireland leave with what would be an exceptional point under the circumstances. The bad news is that two half-hour periods equates to an hour, and that's ages!
CHANCE! Sanmartean is playing so, so well here, folks. He has just nonchalantly jogged past Norwood, before cleverly knocking it past McAuley but, with just Carroll to beat, squared it to Stancu who fell over instead of scoring. What a fantastic run but he should've finished it off. Too selfless.
Somebody inside the stadium has just left off a firework, but it literally sounded like a bomb. There's another one. There's an eye and ear surgery somewhere in Bucharest going to make a mint in the coming days.
Kyle Lafferty is so isolated so far as Northern Ireland's focal point. There's such a massive gap between him and his midfielders, who are all parked inside their own half. If they get to half-time level then that's a victory in itself.
SHOT! Niall McGinn has Northern Ireland's second shot of the evening, but it's a shocking volley that flies into row-z, in amongst the Romania fans. Good luck getting that ball back, UEFA.
Ryan McGivern, looking a bit like Eminem with peroxide blonde hair, concedes a silly free kick by hauling down Bogdan Stancu on the right wing. The left-back has been very busy tonight, but he's done reasonably well.
Northern Ireland really have to make more of their corners. They've had a few now and not threatened from any of them. It's going to be their only goalscoring outlet so, really, they ought to use them a bit better when they get them.
Good counter attack by Romania. Tanase feeds the ball out wide to Chipciu, before cutting inside and slicing a shocking shot that McGivern heads away. It wasn't a goalscoring chance per se, but it might've been had Chipciu done better.
CHANCE! Lafferty skins Chirches and runs at goal from an angled position, but the striker tries to squeeze a near-post shot beyond the keeper, but he's equal to it.
HALF TIME: ROMANIA 0-0 NORTHERN IRELAND Well, Michael O'Neill's men make it to half time and they're still in this.
Well, they've rode their luck a little, but they're well and truly in the game still. The visitors weathered wave after wave of Romania attack, and had one or two chances themselves through Brunt and Lafferty
What a big 45 minutes ahead, though. Can they take a point away from this, or even three? O'Neill would settle for a draw without a shadow of a doubt, but if the visitors are to take a point back to the UK they'll need to shackle Sanmartean better, with the midfielder well and truly running this game.
It's a shame he's 34, and in the twilight of his career, because he's shown throughout this first half that he can be such an exciting player.
Anyways, meet me back here in a few minutes for the second 45 minutes. Stick the kettle on. One milk, two sugars. Thanks.
Right, the Northern Ireland players are back on the field, followed closely by the hosts. What a reception for the Romanian players. Imagine Jay-Z, Lady Gaga, Beyonce and Justin Bieber all came out on the stage at Glastonbury at the same time and that's the noise levels we're talking about.
Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand we are officially back underway. Northern Ireland get us restarted in Bucharest but Romania have the ball already. There's one sub to tell you about, as Keseru replaces the pretty shocking Stancu up front.
YELLOW CARD: Second booking of the game as Mihai Pintilii goes into the book for hauling down Lafferty, who is furious and pushes the midfielder. It did look a bad challenge.
Believe it or not, but those Romanian fans are still furious with Roy Carroll after...what did he do again? He was fouled by Chipciu in the first half. Football fans are a strange bunch, aren't they.
YELLOW CARD: Kyle Lafferty goes into the book now for elbowing Dragos Grigore it seems. Fair booking.
CHANCE! Oh this is a fine chance for Romania. Keseru, the second-half sub, plays an excellent ball through to Razvan Rat, who finished like the left-back he is and Roy Carroll did well to save. Big, big chance.
SUBSTITUTION:Looks like we're set for our second sub of the night as Tanase hobbles off the field. He'll be replaced by Maxim, who founded a very popular lads magazine I believe. (may not be the same bloke)
This is such a poor decision by the referee, who penalises Niall McGinn for, well nothing. Chirches literally falls over and wins a free kick. It was deep in Romania's half, however, so no immediate danger.
Huge intervention from Ryan McGivern, who recovers excellently to prevent Torje from going through with Roy Carroll at an angle. He may look like an Eminem but there's been nothing shady about him tonight. He's done a fine job at left-back.
PENALTY APPEAL: Oh this is a penalty, but it's not given. Huge call by the referee to deny Romania a spot-kick as Sanmartean looks to have been hacked down inside the area by McGivern. He's after ruining that Eminem/Shady pun now.
SUBSTITUTION: Sammy Clingan replaces Niall McGinn in Northern Ireland's first change.
SHOT! Lafferty does well to bend a fierce shot at the Romanian keeper, but it didn't have enough curl to beat him.
Worrying signs for Northern Ireland as Lafferty goes down after appearing to take a nudge in the back from Dragos Grigore, who sounds a bit like a Game of Thrones character. I think he's back on his feet now.
It's a big last 25 minutes or so for the visitors. Can they hold on? Only one chance in the second half so far so perhaps they can. The fans will get increasingly frustrated as time goes on and the pressure will be on Romania to break them down.
UPDATE: Big, big shock in Group F as it stands as Greece trail Faroe Islands by a goal to nil in Athens. It kinda takes a downer off Northern Ireland's 2-0 win there if they do indeed hang on, eh?
GOAL!!!! ROMANIA 1-0 NORTHERN IRELAND (PAPP)
Just when the Romanian fans were getting frustrated, right-back Paul Papp opens the scoring. It's Razvan Rat who fizzes a dangerous ball into the box, and it's not dealt with by Northern Ireland as Papp nips in and side-foots a fine pass into the corner of the net. Excellent finish.
BOOKING: Maxim picks up a yellow card. We're going to see Billy McKay come on in a few minutes I think.
Can they get back on level terms? It's a big ask, seen as they've barely threatened in the final third. Falling behind should most definitely spark them into action, though.
GOAL!!!! ROMANIA 2-0 NORTHERN IRELAND (PAPP)
It's only Paul Papp again! The right-back surely puts the result beyond doubt now, heading past Roy Carroll at his near following a truly superb cross from that Lucian Sanmartean, who has been exceptional all night. That should be that.
Northern Ireland have gone 4-3-3 now but it's too late. Far too late. They needed this sense of adventure at 0-0, maybe at 1-0 down but it's going to be a case of what could've been, I think.
Paul Papp and Lucean Sanmartean will get the plaudits, but Vlad Chirches has been exceptional in defence for Romania. He's given Lafferty very, very little to feed off and even beaten him in a few foot races. He's lightning quick for a big bloke.
Romania just going through the motions now it seems, knocking it around comfortably to the delight of the home fans, who certainly played their role in tonight's win - if they hang on, which they will.
FOUR MINUTES ADDED ON:
Romania fans have spent much of the match whistling certain things and players, but they want a whistle for full time now. Disappointing overall, but Northern Ireland fans have been great too and they're doing a forward poznan if that makes sense. Fair play to them. They can sulk their way back to Northern Ireland, or they can have a laugh. Which would you choose?
FULL TIME: ROMANIA 2-0 NORTHERN IRELAND
That's it. Paul Papp proves the difference with two second-half goals to inflict a first Euro 2016 qualifying defeat on Northern Ireland, who came looking for a point and, in the words of Anne Robinson, leave with nothing.
The win takes Romania top of Group F, one point clear of Northern Ireland in second.
Anyways, that's your lot from us. Stay tuned for analysis, ratings, reaction and all that good stuff. For now, it's goodbye from me. Enjoy your weekend.
Written by
Shane Callaghan
Shane Callaghan
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