Late goals from Niall McGinn and Kyle Lafferty have earned Northern Ireland a 2-1 victory over Hungary in their first Euro 2016 qualifying fixture.

Below, Sports Mole takes a look at who impressed for each side at the Groupama Arena.

© Getty Images

HUNGARY

Goal

Peter Gulacsi: The former Liverpool stopper made a good save to prevent Ward from opening the scoring but he was helpess to stop Northern Ireland's two goals from close range. (6/10)

Defence

Zoltan Liptak: Patrolled the centre of defence well but as the game wore on, he struggled to cope with the physicality of Lafferty. Went off injured with 10 minutes to go. (6/10)

Roland Juhasz: Started off brightly enough but, like his teammates, he had problems dealing with Northern Ireland's attacking players. Failed to reorganise the defence after Liptak's departure. (7/10)

Vilmos Vanczak: Picked up a cheap yellow card in the first half and his lack of pace was exposed time and time again. Not one of his better games. (6/10)

Midfield

Daniel Tozser: The Watford midfielder didn't have one of his best games in a Hungary shirt, which may have been a result of having to play a more restricted position due to the free role given to Dzsudzsak (6/10)

Jozsef Varga: The former Middlesbrough man provided his team with a combative performance that just got the better of Norwood and Evans, but he couldn't help his team over the line. (7/10)

Adam Gyurcso: The Videoton winger had the beating of McLaughlin going forward but he didn't do enough defensively to stop the full-back's contribution in the opposite direction. (6/10)

Balazs Balogh: Wasn't overawed on his national team debut but he didn't add anything that wasn't dealt with by Northern Ireland. (6/10)

Balazs Dzsudzsak: The skipper was at the heart of the majority of his team's work but he spoiled a decent performance by hitting the deck too easily when attempting to gain an advantage around the penalty area. (7/10)

Attack

Gergely Rudolf: Easily Hungary's best player of the match but he was surprisingly withdrawn with 20 minutes remaining. It proved to be a costly mistake by his manager. (8/10)

Nemanja Nikolic: Failed to make any impact in the first half and it came as no surprise when he was replaced by Priskin. (6/10)

Substitutes

Tamas Priskin: The former Watford man was left on the substitutes' bench but he proved a frequent threat in the air after his introduction. He left Carroll with no chance with his header. (7/10)

Gergo Lovrencsics: Helped his team tick along but couldn't offer anything extra from open play as his side's attacks were repelled by the Northern Ireland defence. (6/10)

Istvan Kovacs: The 22-year-old is regarded as one of his country's top talents, but he failed to live up to his billing (6/10)

© Getty Images

Goal

Roy Carroll: This was a composed performance from the veteran goalkeeper. Kept his side on level terms in the second half, but could do nothing to prevent Priskin's header from finding the back of the net. (7/10)

Defence

Conor McLaughlin: The Fleetwood Town full-back got caught out a couple of times defensively but he was superb going forward, regularly offering his team an outlet on the overlap. (7/10)

Gareth McAuley: The 34-year-old hasn't played as much as he would have liked at West Bromwich Albion this season but he continues to play a valuable role for his country. Taken off with a knock with 20 minutes remaining. (7/10)

Aaron Hughes: This was a colossal performance from the 34-year-old. The centre-back held firm when Hungary pressed for a goal in several parts of the match and he will have a vital role to play over the next year. (8/10)

Chris Brunt: The West Bromwich Albion man was deployed in his secondary position of left-back but he provided a cool head on the left-hand side as he linked up well with Ward. (7/10)

Midfield

Chris Baird: Took up a position in front of the back four to provide security in midfield and he did a sterling job in helping repel Hungary's attacks through the middle. He's on the wrong side of 30 but he did what was asked of him. (8/10)

Steven Davis: While Baird offered a more physical aspect, Davis brought a calming influence to the midfield with his range of passing and footballing brain inside a packed area. (8/10)

Olivier Norwood: The Reading midfielder put in a hard-working shift before being replaced with 11 minutes to go when his team had fallen behind. (7/10)

Corry Evans: Got himself about well, but he could have cost his side a positive result by missing from 12 yards after Ward had gone close from a one-on-one situation. (7/10)

Jamie Ward: Ward was Northern Ireland's best player until he was forced off with an injury shortly after the hour-mark. Constantly had Hungary on the back foot with his pace and trickery. (8/10)

Attack

Kyle Lafferty: On his first start for his country in nearly two years, Lafferty produced the perfect-lone-striker display. Provided a threat in the air and on the ground before playing a crucial part in both of Northern Ireland's goals. (9/10)

Substitutes

Niall McGinn: The Aberdeen winger was given the task of replacing the impressive Ward and he picked up where his teammate had left off with an all-action display. He tapped home the first before laying the ball on a plate for Lafferty to score the winner. (8/10)

Craig Cathcart: Northern Ireland fell behind just three minutes after his introduction but he recovered to get his team over the line in the final minutes of the game. (6/10)

Billy McKay: The striker provided his team with more pace in attack and he provided an option when Northern Ireland attempted to break forward after securing the lead. (6/10)

Written by
Darren Plant